Vietnamese writer Dương Thu Hương’s life has been nothing if not dramatic. Once a true believer in the communist ideals of North Vietnam, her increasing disillusion led to her becoming a dissident.

Most of her books were banned in her native country, only to achieve international recognition in translation to French, English, and other languages.

There has been a spate of articles about her latest work, “The Zenith,” which is due to be published in English translation next year. The book would appear to be something of a bombshell, recounting as it does what Hương claims was a secret affair between Hồ Chí Minh and a woman 40 years younger, as well has her subsequent murder and its coverup.

Interestingly, Hương’s works have found an outlet in their original language on the internet. Take a look at article about her latest book on the Vietnamese Wikipedia, and you’ll notice links to the full text of the book, some via rather sketchy-looking upload sites. One wonders what Hương’s response to such unofficial publication is (but I’d suspect she’s a fan).

More about Hương and the book:

• “Au zénith”, de Duong Thu Huong : terre de douleurs - Livres - Le Monde.fr (French)
• Susanna Lea Associates - THE ZENITH French (and English?) publisher
• Letter from Saigon - International Herald Tribune IHT opinion piece gives some context to Hương in the context of Vietnam