The Time in Between

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The Time in Between: A Novel

Author: David Bergen
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Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
In search of love, absolution, or forgiveness, Charles Boatman leaves B.C. and returns mysteriously to the country where he fought twenty-eight years earlier as a young, reluctant soldier. But his new encounters seem irreconcilable with his memories.

When their father disappears, Ada and her brother, Jon, travel to Danang, Vietnam, to find him. Their quest takes them into the heart of a world that is at once incomprehensible, impassive, and beautiful. Chasing her father’s shadow for weeks, following slim leads, Ada feels increasingly hopeless. Yet while Jon slips into the urban nightlife to avoid what he most fears, Ada soon grows closer than ever to her missing father—and strong enough to forgive him and to bear the truth of his long-kept secret.

Bergen’s marvellously drawn characters include Lieutenant Dat, the police officer who tries to seduce Ada by withholding information; Elaine Gouds, the troubled wife of a self-styled American missionary who lives within the expatriate community in Danang; the boy Yen, who follows Ada and claims to be her guide; and Hoang Vu, the artist and philosopher who will teach Ada about the complexity of love and betrayal.

Moving between father and daughter, the present and the past, The Time in Between is a spellbinding, unforgettable novel about one family, two cultures, and a profound journey in search of elusive answers.

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