Also had had a daughter at 14. So all of those questions led me to pursue them. A very aristocratic family. We need to step back and say exactly who madam nhu was. He brotherinlaw, the brother of her husband became president of South Vietnam in 1956 or 55. 54 he becomes premier. So madam nhu was the de facto first lady, because the president of South Vietnam and theres a few titles before that, but for simplicity well calm him the president. He was a bachelor. That makes him sound like he was going to vegas on the weekends, but he was really very moral, he slept on a hardwooden cots. He signpersonally signed entry visas. Theres this kind of very catholic austere man who needs a first lady, someone to host the parties and go to the orphanages, host the flower shows. So madam nhu, his younger brothers wife becomes this woman and shes perfect for it. She looks great for the cameras, likes to be out there, and this sort of gives her a voice. All of her life i think she had been looking for
Please keep the spirit of lit fest going all year long with a subscription. This year we are also introducing a new digital bookstore. Please take one of our promo cards for information about the app and axis the special book deals. Before they can todays program please file ensure cell phones. You return your camera flash off. We will allow you to take pictures. You can post those pictures online using hashtag printers row. Gives me great pleasure to introduce to you guys are moderate todays conversation, eric banks. Mr. Banks. Thank you. Thank you very much. Welcome everybody. Its good to see you here this morning and its my pleasure to welcome today Monique Brinson demery, the author of the amazing book, finding the dragon lady the mystery of vietnams madame nhu, which has recently been published by Public Affairs books. She holds a masters degree from harvard university, and when she made contact with madame nhu who was the unofficial first lady of the south east government in 2005
Dallas and theres a ranch there and she gets invited to go shooting. So her daughter dresses up in like western gear and apparel has the first kind of teenage romance with a texas guy. And her reception that madame nhu gets from her mother, was very worried about madame nhus visit to the United States so she posts a state department has had an estimate as has madame nhu really shouldnt come you. I have arent all that the in these to throw tomatoes after and if they see her to run her over with the car. This is her mother. She does get tomatoes for better. She also gets Standing Ovations from fordham, from georgetown, from a lot of Catholic Education speed is good to say, she really mapped out the Catholic College and universities, i can or as part of her tour was she presented at that point as her catholicism commune, very important part of her political ideology, if you want to call it that. Was she seen in that light, in 1963 in the United States . I assume to the extent that she was
Certainly get shoved into one of these to the categories. We even had chicagos tokyo rose. When i was trying to kind of wrecking waits this very complex figure, you present her and all are complex today, which i think is wonderful. I kept thinking also about modelo to mark those who doesnt come up in the book, this strikes me as a counter model. She certainly was a figure like that. The mac now she wasnt. Registered theres an offbroadway play in new york. Discussing about the delta markers. I think it was called boots. A thousand shoes. Its called here lies love. And i think madame nhu would be a great character for his next. She was flamboyant and didnt go quietly either. Has anyone been interested in making a film about her life if im asked quite not that i know of. The next theres anyone out there, taking authors. Thats right. What was she like . You portray this very well in the book, but tell us about what she was like when you anointed a contact. She wasnt exactly advertising whe
Too controversial. So now theres more education about it, but it is still a hard conflict to streamline and get people talking about. So if this is one way to do that, madame nhu is a very polarizing figure and i i think it needs to be explored, and all. Did your personal feelings for her change over time . I dont know if you started the project is a blackandwhite figure politically and historically. I dont know whether you take became from that kind of a physician, but did she become much more personalizes you in the process of working on about quick when i started i thought this is a woman whos been stereotyped and i was going to rescue her and all this stuff. But she really didnt need to be rescued. She was good in that. She was complicated. I think my initial i am going to do this world a Great Service was quickly changed when i started learning all the facts. But i have the up most respect for her. I mean, she was a strong woman anytime in place that it was not okay to be a strong