Abstract:
Mercedes, a lost soul of 24, finds herself in the Shangri-La City of Hue, where North and South have agreed not to fight because it is the revered cultural center of Vietnam. Thanh, a brittle intellectual, is desperately trying to map the history of the neglected citadel before it crumbles. He and Mercedes fall in love, and she uses artistic talents in trying to make his dream a lasting reality. Plans for a marriage—and Hue itself--fall victim to the Tet Offensive of 1968, during which Thanh is forced to reveal a secret that is worse than the loss of life itself.