Dr Vincent Lam was born in London, Ontario. His family is from the expatriate Chinese community of Vietnam. He studied medicine in Toronto and is an emergency physician. He lives in Toronto with his wife and son. www.vincentlam.ca
‘A first novel of astonishing force, craft and beauty, The Headmaster's Wager conjures up a dizzyingly evocative wartime Saigon in the story of Percival Chen, a Chinese schoolmaster in Vietnam. This extraordinary book made me weep. Read it’ Janice Y.K. Lee, author of The Piano Teacher ‘Sumptuously plotted…Lam goes for the jugular, combining an operatic love story…with evocations of Vietnam’s occupation by the Japanese and the later horrors of the Viet Cong’ New York Times Book Review ‘A masterfully paced exploration of a world convulsed by war, wherein faith and reason no longer hold sway…[Lam] depicts a world caught in an implacable cycle of violence, leavened only by the grace of a father's love’ Publishers Weekly ‘Hugely impressive…powerful and engrossing…The Headmaster’s Wager has the makings of a masterpiece’ The Globe and Mail
Lam's latest (after Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures) is a masterfully paced exploration of a world convulsed by war, wherein faith and reason no longer hold sway. Percival Chen, an affluent Chinese English instructor in late 1960s Saigon, is determined to escape the politics of war-torn Vietnam, profiting from the sidelines instead. He instructs his son, Dai Jai, to remain faithful only to their Chinese heritage, not realizing that even this allegiance has become a deadly liability. Obeying his father's edict, Dai Jai is arrested by Vietnamese authorities, and Percival exhausts his shady connections in his attempts to rescue Dai Jai from the brutality of the police. Meanwhile, Percival falls in love with Jacqueline-a mixed-race prostitute with ulterior motives-despite the objections of his loyal friend Mak, a man embroiled in his own mysterious affairs. Lam marshals his characters with humor, suspense, and tenderness as the fall of Saigon looms. Even as Percival navigates the minefield of shifting ideologies, treachery, and paranoia-incurring one inconceivable cost upon another-his devotion suffuses every page. Lam depicts a world caught in an implacable cycle of violence, leavened only by the grace of a father's love. Agent: Christy Fletcher. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
'A first novel of astonishing force, craft and beauty, The Headmaster's Wager conjures up a dizzyingly evocative wartime Saigon in the story of Percival Chen, a Chinese schoolmaster in Vietnam. This extraordinary book made me weep. Read it' Janice Y.K. Lee, author of The Piano Teacher
'Sumptuously plotted...Lam goes for the jugular, combining an operatic love story...with evocations of Vietnam's occupation by the Japanese and the later horrors of the Viet Cong' New York Times Book Review
'A masterfully paced exploration of a world convulsed by war, wherein faith and reason no longer hold sway...[Lam] depicts a world caught in an implacable cycle of violence, leavened only by the grace of a father's love' Publishers Weekly
'Hugely impressive...powerful and engrossing...The Headmaster's Wager has the makings of a masterpiece' The Globe and Mail
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