The man from Saigon - Marti Leimbach

"After all the stories of battles and deaths, of torture and loss and hatred, someone should tell this one, too, about a man who moved among them, who seemed to love them."

1967. Vietnam. Susan Gifford is one of the first female correspondents on assignment in Saigon, dedicated to her job and passionately in love with an American TV reporter. Son is a Vietnamese photographer anxious to get his work into the American press. Together they cover every aspect of the war from combat missions to the workings of field hospitals. Then one November morning, narrowly escaping death during an ambush, they find themselves the prisoners of three Vietcong soldiers who have been separated from their unit.

Now, under constant threat from American air strikes, helpless in the hands of the enemy, they face the daily hardships of the jungle, living always with the threat of being killed. But Son turns out to have a history that Susan would never have guessed, and which will one day separate her from her American lover. Held under terrifyingly harsh conditions it becomes clear just how profound and important their relationship has become to both of them.

Marti Leimbach was born in 1963 in Washington, DC. She has written several other novels, one of which, Dying Young, was turned into a major feature film in 1991 staring Julia Roberts. Marti now lives in the UK.

'In a change of direction for an author better knows for family dramas, Marti Leimbach strikes out for the battlefields of Vietnam. [She] does an impressive job of evoking the frenetic chaos of Saigon and the claustrophobia and suffocating humidity of the dense jungle, while her story has a vivid immediacy as it flashes backwards and forwards in a deliberately disorienting fashion. The result is intense and gripping.' Daily Mail

Praise for 'Daniel Isn't Talking'

'If you like fiction emphatic and passionate, you'll relish this.' Independent

'So heartfelt, realistic and informative.Leimbach vividly portrays both overwhelming maternal love and the ins and outs of autism.' Sunday Times

'One of the most enchanting and gripping books of the year.Leimbach knows how to engage her readers completely.' Daily Mail

'Tender, involving tale of a family in crisis.' Woman and Home

'Never bleak, this inspiring read sheds light on the often misunderstood condition.' Works Magazine

'Powerful and moving, and also surprisingly funny. A love story in every sense.' Deborah Moggach

'I adored 'Daniel isn't Talking'. I was riveted, engrossed - all those wonderful things one hopes for when opening a book. I thought her portrayal of a mother facing unbelievable hardships was very real and gripping.' Anita Shreve