I Married Vietnam

Battle wounds, physical and emotional, and American society's ingratitude to Vietnam veterans shape this tale narrated by the wife of a former Airborne Ranger. Upon first meeting Jeremy Fisher in Chicago, after he has left the service, Samantha comes to share the ongoing, nightmarish legacy of his combat experience--bitterness, discrimination, remorse over killings, the myriad effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and his terrible memories. In the first three quarters of the novel, Samantha tells of Jeremy's childhood in rural Mississippi with his African American farm family, which also claims Cherokee ancestry. She describes his enlistment, training, two tours in the jungles of Vietnam and his return to postwar America. The edge of hero worship in the tone is appropriate to Samantha's narrative voice, which is that of a sympathetic, loving wife who, in her caring devotions, becomes an heroic figure herself. Through Frazier's gentle lyricism--even in scenes of gruesome violence--this first novel takes on fablelike qualities as well. Generally avoiding the maudlin potential of her story, which lacks immediacy, Frazier engages and often moves her readers. (Sept.)