Minfong Ho,
Gathering the Dew.
Orchard, 2003.

The third book in the well-received First Person Fiction series, Gathering the Dew is the story of one Cambodian family's life following the Khmer Rouge takeover in 1975, which involved the destruction of traditional customs, family structures, and much of the country. The Sokhas are forced to evacuate their home in Phnom Penh, and they make their way on foot to their family home in the countryside, though the family is not safe even there. Khmer Rouge soldiers take the father away and force the three oldest children, Teeda, Nakri, and their brother, Boran, to work in a labor camp. Eventually, the remaining family members are reunited. Starving, they flee to Thailand and the border refugee camps where a chance encounter starts a chain of events culminating in the Sokhas' emigration to the United States.

Narrated by Nakri, the story offers a delicate balance between serenity and chaos. The novel begins with the sisters practicing classical Cambodian dance in the palace in Phnom Penh, where their mother is the dance instructor. Teeda is working hard to be worthy of dancing the important role of Mekhala, goddess of the sea, who gathered dewdrops, one by one, to win a magic crystal globe. Within two days they are refugees, the peace and focus of dance replaced by noise, dust, and fear. As their lives deteriorate, Teeda holds on to her love of dance by practicing secretly; if the Khmer Rouge catch her dancing, they will punish her severely. In a climactic scene, feverish with malaria, she dances the role of Mekhala with the moon as her globe. Nakri, always her sister's apprentice, carries this image with her when she finally returns to her family and travels around the world to a new life in America. Through her love of music and dance, Nakri eventually becomes able to mourn her life in Cambodia, even as she gathers the drops of dew that form Mekhala's globe of hope.

Imagery of the dance, the moon, Mekhala's globe, and the underlying metaphor of the title tie the many settings and events of the story together. Theses lyrical themes stand in stark contrast to the painfully accurate details of the novel's setting, although the horrors are muted by Minfong Ho's choice of narrator and point of view. In the end, the hope that “even in the darkest forest, there are dewdrops,” and that “by quietly collecting the dew, drop by drop,” we can “make it through the forest” turns this story of loss into one of quiet triumph.

Lee Galda
Spring 2003