An operatic, polyphonic novel that follows Emi and Lua, as they grapple with Vietnamese intergenerational stories across genocide, psychosis, and the resistance that follows.

Tetra Nova is an operatic, polyphonic novel. At its heart lies the question of postcolonial burdens of identity, exile, narration, and history.

In late-twentieth century Saigon, Lua Mater – a performance artist – meets Emi Terazawa, a child visiting her mother’s country for the first time since the end of the war. The sudden arrival of a tiny Panda prompts fate to intervene, taking Lua and Emi on a dreamlike and investigative journey into history, language, legacy and resistance.

Darting between the temples of Nagasaki, the mountains of Tucson, and an island refugee camp off the coast of Malaysia, Lua and Emi become one narrator, blending their voices into a performance of intergenerational stories that reach their crescendo with a song for humanity beyond trauma.