Stilling the Stillness

What if. . . .

Greeks and Trojans reimagined in Vietnam; women as unspoken victims--and unsung heroes--of war; all of humanity as inherently schizophrenic? These are some of the fascinating ideas raised by this remarkable first novel.



Trapped in an abandoned French fortress during the Vietnam War, a group of American soldiers, their two female prisoners, and a nearby village of women are thrown together by a besieging enemy, a gold statue, and an unnaturally violent monsoon. War, deception, religion, greed, plunder, heroism; the Trojan War seemingly being played out in the jungles of Southeast Asia. Yet one key participant may be orchestrating the conflict from the confines of a 21st century mental institution, spurred on by the Voices of a timeless, arguing God and Goddess. Greeks and Trojans are recast as contemporary men and women locked in a struggle to survive. Most chillingly, post-traumatic stress disorder triggers schizophrenia, as a complex weave of past and future eventually lead to the deceptively simple mystery of a skeleton waiting patiently in a tunnel.