This reviewer has been reading anything she can get her hands on regarding Vietnam, prior to a journey there later this year. Mimi and her Mirror is the second book about Vietnamese emigration to the US following the harrowing days of the fall of Saigon by Uyen Nicole Duong. The other is Daughters of the River Huong. Both books are insightful and moving - in totally different ways, yet the two stories are intermingled with the same cast of very real, and sometimes very scary or damaged characters, different views of the same events and the same emphasis on the importance of family - however flawed it might be.I was particularly taken with the generous and delicate descriptions of cultural and historical issues, and the grandmother, the anchor, mystic, wise and ever giving - such a wonderful person. Her sister and brother give the story depth while giving her a link to the past.Both books portray glamorous girls who struggled in different ways to become successful lawyers; Mimi finding that the Harvard impramateur does not necessarily result in a satisfactory career. Mimi's struggles as a poor immigrant and the harrowing memories of the desperate and savage escape from Saigon and her lonely, A student, scholarship funded university career are narrated in front of a shop mirror; one of three items of furniture in her bedroom.A brutal rape, seriously damaged parents and the lonely climb up the corporate ladder, along with the safe and warm memories of Vietnam are revealed to her boyfriend. While cathartic for her, his conservative, white, US background simply does not allow him to manage such events and tragedy.Good on you Mimi - she finally stands up against the system, takes a strong ethical and moral stance familiar to professional women from all races and colours, and walks out the the law practice into writing.From my travel point of view, I learned more about what I suspect is the real Vietnam.It was a good read, and thoroughly recommended, particularly as a women's book.I wonder how autobigraphical this series of books is? The little bio sounded pretty similar to the stories of both sisters, in different ways.In thinking about the book, I have now ordered Postcards from Vietnam, another book by the same author.