THE LOTUS SEED

This beautiful book, lushly illustrated but in a “hazy” way as if memory is fading, is a beautiful choice.

Set in Vietnam in the last century, it tells the story of a young woman who remembers the day the emperor abdicated, and sneaks into the palace garden to steal a seed from a lotus pod to remember him by. Later, after marrying, having children, and losing her husband to the war, she has to flee her home and her village as the freedom fighters, led by Ho Chi Minh, advance upon it. The only possession she takes with her is the lotus seed that she has saved through the years.

She and her family (siblings, children, and cousins) take a boat to New York City and spend years living and working together. One night years later, a grandson finds the special seed and plants it in the mud in the yard. His grandmother cries to find the seed gone and her grandson is unable to locate it again.

One day in spring, the seed reveals itself in the form of a beautiful pink lotus, a reminder of all this grandmother has left behind, and all that she still has. When this blossom dies, she dries the seeds and gives one to each of her grandchildren.

According to your family's interest and readiness, this story can be used to introduce more detail about the history of Vietnam.

Younger children, though (and anyone), can enjoy the story for its own sake.  This is a story of hardship and new beginnings, a story of family and memory, a story of country and home. Like the dry lotus seed, beauty and hope can also lie dormant for many years, and then spring anew when conditions are right.

Content Considerations

A husband/father goes off to war and never returns, “bombs fell all around” as the narrator and her family flee; mentions of a “family altar” and “she married a young man chosen by her parents” may spark cultural conversations