Islander Sue Guiney’s “Where We Find Ourselves: A Cambodian Love Story.” It is very much a love story, in every sense of the term, among the characters that populate the novel, as well as about the country Guiney so adores.
At the center of the book is Deborah, an American expat who runs Khmer Home for Blessed Children, an orphanage filled with children whose parents have died, or from families who can no longer afford to keep them. With guts, determination, and love, Deborah is the glue that holds together the lives of the children and the assorted adults who care for them.
Written in the first person, Deborah introduces herself to us by sharing a Cambodian proverb: “Negotiate a river by following its bends; enter a country by following its customs.”
“By that, they mean be flexible and try to fit in. I’ve always tried to do just that all these decades of living here, but really, there’s only so much fitting in that a somewhat overweight white woman in her sixties with a terrible Khmer accent can do.” She admits to being stubborn, but prefers the word “persistent.” “I know it’s persistence … that has kept me going despite the soul-destroying poverty and corruption, the frustration, anger, and bewilderment that surrounds us every day. Sometimes that stubbornness does get me into trouble, but I know that it is only by the grace of some god or Buddha that I can still be sitting here today, pretending not to smoke a cigarette under the banyan tree beneath the nursery window, and still believe that all of us, indeed each and every one of us in their own unique way, is okay.”
The story launches into action when two of Deborah’s charges, 14-year-old Kiri and 23-year-old Thom, attend a demonstration after the elections that turns violent, and riot police come after the protesters. When the dust settles, Kiri is critically injured, and Thom has assaulted Kiri’s attacker, and is now on the run. Deborah, terribly worried about Thom, whom she considers a son, goes in search of him, leading her on an odyssey through the country that forces her to re-evaluate the choices she has — and will — make.
As the story unfolds, we are introduced to Deborah’s chosen family, including her adopted daughter Samnang; Kyle, an Australian who co-manages the home with her and feels more like a younger brother than a best friend; and Dr. Kim Reith, who operates the nearby clinic and is wholeheartedly devoted to Deborah and the children. As the story unfolds, Guiney develops these rich characters so they become familiar, tangible friends of ours.
Guiney also masterfully evokes the sights, sounds, and tastes of Cambodia, bringing the country she loves to life on the page. About the streets of Phnom Penh, Deborah tells us, “There is a sort of system to it all, a hierarchy dictating who goes where, when. The cars are the top dogs, of course. They go slowly, but they go wherever and whenever they want. They wait for nobody.” She continues in descending order of power: the motorcycles, scooters, tuktuks. “They have to give way to everyone else, except for the bicycles. Everyone watches out for the bikes as if they were everybody’s adorable little brothers, merrily going their way, picking a path and sticking to it.”
Later in her travels, Deborah reflects, “Country villages are noisy, that’s for sure. There is always a cacophony of dogs barking, cows lowing, birdsong mixed with the diesel rumblings of tractors.” Then, when she is way off the beaten path, Deborah says, “Out here, where the heat of the country really beats, you remember there is no such thing as modernity. Time is irrelevant except for the seasons. Life in Cambodia just is.”
“Where We Find Ourselves” is the last in a trilogy about Westerners working against the backdrop of politics in the post–Khmer Rouge era. The books came about by happenstance. Growing up during the Vietnam era, Guiney least expected to travel to, let alone fall in love with, Cambodia. But in 2006, while living in London, she and her husband took their teenage son to Cambodia, where they built houses in rural communities, worked in an orphanage, and traveled around the country. “The trip changed my life,” Guiney says. “I fell in love with the place, especially the people. Here was this country that had gone through so much, yet the people were moving forward, had a great sense of humor, and were incredibly generous. I became interested, too, in the Westerners who worked with them.”
After the first novel, “Tangled Roots,” was published, Guiney notes, “I knew I wanted to bring it back to the people who inspired me.” She ended up teaching writing workshops for English as a second language learners at a shelter. “They said, ‘If you come once, you can’t connect with these kids and never see them again. Their whole background is woven up in abandonment.” Guiney returned every year for more extended periods. In 2015, she founded Writing Through, an international educational nonprofit that partners with local organizations to provide specially developed workshops in which creative writing is used to develop thinking skills, creativity, language fluency, and self-esteem.
Guiney reflects that now, after this third Cambodian book, “I believe I’m done writing about these characters, having lived with them for 10 years. I think I have set them on their way.”
“Where We Find Ourselves: A Cambodian Love Story,” by Sue Guiney, is available at Edgartown Books.
