Elevator in Sai Gon

Personal and political, tragic and bitingly satirical, an ethereal journey through Hanoi, Saigon, Paris, Pyongyang, and Seoul.A young Vietnamese woman living in Paris travels back to Saigon for her estranged mothers funeral. Her brother had recently built a new house in Saigon, including what was rumored to be the first elevator in a private home in the country, but days after moving in, their mother mysteriously fell down the elevator shaft, dying in an instant.After the funeral, the daughter becomes increasingly fascinated with her familys history and learns of an enigmatic figure, Paul Polotsky, from her mothers notebook. Like an amateur sleuth, she trails Polotsky through the streets of Paris. Meanwhile, she tries to find clues about her mothers past, which zigzags through H N?i, Si Gn, Paris, Pyongyang, and Seoul. Combining elements of the detective thriller, a historical romance, and the immigrant experience, Elevator in Si Gn is a scathing satire of life in a communist state and a heartbreaking postcolonial ghost story.