Bending with the Wind

<p> Before the Khmer Rouge takeover of Cambodia in April 1975 Sao Bounchoeurn and San Bounriem grew up in idyllic though vastly different circumstances. After a secondary education Bounchoeurn entered the army joined the Special Forces and worked for the Americans. He became a slave laborer after the fall of Phnom Penh and eventually escaped to Thailand. In another part of Cambodia Bounriem lived happily spoiled and uneducated. Fleeing from the advancing Khmer Rouge she arrived at the same refugee camp as Bounchoeurn where they met married and immigrated to America. This riveting memoir chronicles the couple's childhoods their lives under the Khmer Rouge their journeys to Thailand and later the United States and their efforts to forge a new life. This remarkable tale offers an intimate look inside the terrors of the Khmer Rouge and an inspiring portrait of the immigrant experience in America.</p>