The Rainy Season
ELLA ARRIVES IN SAIGON as a single girl on a trip meant for two. Abandoned by her adored boyfriend and haunted by the mystery of her absent Vietnam veteran father, she loses herself in coconut rum and easy ex-pat friends.
Sharing fractured pasts and uncertain futures, Ella begins to feel at home in a landscape scarred by war and betrayal. Hope is gradually returning to Vietnam. Hearts and minds are opening, and Ella finds herself falling in love with handsome French photographer Ariel. But will the heavy tropical rains be enough to wash away the ghosts of the past?
A sexy, soulful story about love, loss and learning to live again.
Extract from The Rainy Season | Buy The Rainy Season | Reviews of The Rainy Season
Myfanwy Jones talks to Jan Goldsmith about The Rainy Season on ‘Published or Not’, 3CR, March 2009.
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Reviews of The Rainy Season
'Jones, who worked in Saigon in the 1990s, brings Saigon to life: the urban chaos, the stench and grime of poverty, the sickening humidity. The prose is quick and light; The Rainy Season is a diverting read... moving for its earnestness and emotional authenticity.'
AUSTRALIAN BOOK REVIEW (Full text of review)
'The Rainy Season is successful on many levels. Primarily, it’s the story of a young woman coming to terms with her feelings of rejection and gaining a sense of herself; but it’s also a vivid picture of expatriate life, the exuberance and recklessness of youth, a tortured country coming to terms with change, and the agony of the once-young fighters who were largely reviled or unacknowledged when they got home. Finally, it is a vibrant description of a lively, chaotic and contradictory city and culture. A wonderful achievement.'
'Her eye for detail is sharp and sensual and she has written her first novel with great feeling... It is a soulful story, rich with the atmosphere of Vietnam - the bars, the bikes, the stall-vendors, the street-sweepers, coconut rum. I was moved by the way her story reveals the connectedness between Australia and Vietnam and how this connectedness is both sad and ultimately hopeful.'
THE COURIER-MAIL (Full text of review)
'This novel about a young woman on a self-discovery tour brings alive a country with great atmosphere...The Rainy Season is a lovely, thoughtful book.'
THE SUNDAY MAIL
'Beautiful in its evocation of the bright colours and alien smells of a new country, and pleasingly dark in its depiction of the aftershocks of abandonment and war... Jones tells a good story well, and The Rainy Season is effective and affecting.'
THE AGE
'It's the love story that draws you in... I couldn't put it down.'
CLEO
'It's a real first-love story, a family-secrets story, and it's full of luscious, picturesque scenery; for anyone who wants to be reminded of how any of that felt, or who are thinking of travelling, it's a great read.'
3RRR
'The Rainy Season charts the most delicate shifts in pressure - of the heart, of the weather, of a city - a superbly atmospheric and deeply empathetic novel.'
SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM, author of Geography and Bird
'Love lost, and how it re-inscribes the losses of childhood, has seldom been captured more tenderly than in this poignant, beautiful novel.'
OLGA LORENZO, author of The Rooms in My Mother's House
'It takes you back - little has changed - I enjoyed the journey.'
BARRY HEARD, author of Well Done, Those Men
'The Rainy Season is a beautiful tale of love, courage and strength in the face of crushed dreams and amidst an uncertain future.'
TRESPASS
'If you have ever been to Vietnam (or even if you haven't) then you should grab a copy of The Rainy Season and lose yourself in the cultural kaleidoscope that is Saigon.'
SHE SAID
'She captures the people, their customs and idiosyncracies, with authenticity and humour. Her writing is bright and crisp and avoids gushy sentimentality... In a word: Entertaining!'
TOWNSVILLE BULLETIN
'Saigon comes alive... This novel is honest, and raw. '
M/C REVIEWS
'An effective critique of Australia's treatment of Vietnam vets and a lively and evocative account of Saigon. '
SMH
'A moving story about love, loss and rediscovery.'
GOLD COAST BULLETIN