The Book of Salt

When Binh returned to his parents’ home after being fired from the Governor-General’s house, his father disowned him and announced that he now only has three sons. In response, Binh claims whoever his father is, it’s not The Old Man.

Binh relates his mother’s story to Bao, demonstrating how much he misses his mother. Binh’s mother married The Old Man after her father died and her mother contemplated death by suicide after having to survive off her brother-in-law’s scant charity. Binh’s maternal grandmother hired a matchmaker to marry off Binh’s mother, who was so young that she’d only just begun getting her period. She didn’t know anything about sex, her menstrual cycles, or pregnancy. Despite her youth, she never abandoned her Buddhist faith, despite marrying a (supposed) Catholic.

After the birth of their first child, Binh’s father added a kitchen to the house, a place where Binh’s mother could take the crying baby and leave Binh’s father alone. Supposedly, a “scholar-prince” Binh’s mother met after her third son was born is Binh’s actual father. When she became pregnant, he left her money and left, never to see her again or meet his son.