The Best We Could Do: An Illustrated Memoir

A complexed story of family love told in a moving and beautiful way — got me in tears!

A graphic memoir of the Bui family written and illustrated by their youngest daughter, Thi. The Bui family immigrated to the U.S. as the Vietnam War ended in the 1970s. It chronicles the family’s struggle to make a new life for themselves in a country far different from the one they left behind. It’s a story of one family’s overcoming adversity, their resilience and their ultimate survival. It’s also about the author’s personal journey to understand her parents and what made them who they are and in the process bring herself closer to them. Her beautiful drawings really add to the story and convey a depth of emotion.

[I am choosing to review this graphic novel voluntarily after I received it from Abrams books as part of a giveaway] "The struggle to bring life into this world is rewarded by [the cry of a baby]. It is a single minded effort uncluttered and clear in it's objective. What follows afterward- that is, the rest of the child's life - is another story." Thi Bui and her family were refugees from Vietnam at the end of the War. Through her drawings and writing which she began in order to understand her roots in the story of her parents, the heartbreaking descriptions of fleeing her homeland and the hope for a better life in a country who was in part the reason she had to flee to be able to have a chance of any kind. This is the story of Bui and her family and how they diligently survived in Vietnam and escaped to America. It is seen and told through the eyes of a woman with a son of her own who began to understand just what survival and thriving is to a refugee family cobbled together and torn apart by conflicts both public and private over life spans is a labyrinth of war and peace, money and poverty, mercy and anger. Sparse prose and beautiful drawn graphics haunt the reader as the story unfolds and reflects courage and despair. The cover calls this book "an illustrated memoir" that her publisher presents in lovely format. This is a much different kind of graphic memory that will stay with you in its simplicity and haunt you with its beauty. 4 stars

The novel begins with a detail account of Thi Bui giving birth to her son. Her mother arrives to help her through this process yet, she stands outside the door, unable to do anything to help her. This mother who had high expectations when she arrived and had given birth to children herself, stands outside the door, her face distorted. I enjoyed the way Thi Bui describes her labor and the events that followed. I knew by reading these opening pages that her memoir would be filled with detailed events that shaped her life and the emotions would run high. The novel shifted around in different time periods but the chapter headings kept me focused. As Thi Bui thinks about her own family she reflects back to what her own parent’s experienced when they were younger. I learned about Thi Bui family and quite an extensive amount of historical information about Vietnam while reading this novel. I also learned how Thi Bui family managed during the war activities during this time period. It was quite the story, and I am sure my face reflected those in the novel as they faced more hardships than joy as endurance seemed to be the key during many of their struggles. I liked the fact that she sees her families struggles as a part of who she is. As she now struggles as a new parent, it is just the beginning and a part of life. I also enjoyed how smoothly the illustrations took me through her life. For a memoir, I thought this was a terrific way of making a tribute to her own life and to the others in it. I enjoyed looking at the illustrations, they were wonderful and I liked that there was not a lot of color used. It’s a great graphic novel and one you should check out.