The Headmaster's Wager
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Published:
Random House Publishing Group 2012
Format:
Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read
Street Date:
08/14/2012
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780307986474
ASIN:
B008C84BYI
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Citations
APA Citation (style guide)

Vincent Lam. (2012). The Headmaster's Wager. Random House Publishing Group.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

Vincent Lam. 2012. The Headmaster's Wager. Random House Publishing Group.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

Vincent Lam, The Headmaster's Wager. Random House Publishing Group, 2012.

MLA Citation (style guide)

Vincent Lam. The Headmaster's Wager. Random House Publishing Group, 2012.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
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Grouped Work ID:
32027664-4a77-9fac-5cf0-4785ca7657be
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Date Added:
Apr 23, 2014 15:30:07
Date Updated:
Nov 15, 2017 23:41:21
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OverDrive Product Record

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The Headmaster's Wager
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      • value: Viet Cong
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      • value: China
      • value: Historical Fiction
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      • value: novel
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      • value: Historical Romance
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      • value: saigon
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      • value: Indochina
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      • value: mahjong tables
      • value: tet offensive
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      • value: christian fiction books for women
      • value: books for women best sellers
creators
      • role: Author
      • fileAs: Lam, Vincent
      • bioText: DR. VINCENT LAM is from the expatriate Chinese community of Vietnam, and was born in Canada. Dr. Lam did his medical training and is an emergency physician in Toronto. His first book, Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures, was awarded the 2006 Scotiabank Giller Prize.
      • name: Vincent Lam
imprint
Hogarth
publishDate
2012-08-14T00:00:00-04:00
isOwnedByCollections
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title
The Headmaster's Wager
fullDescription
A superbly crafted, highly suspenseful, and deeply affecting debut novel about one man’s loyalty to his country, his family and his heritage
 
Percival Chen is the headmaster of the most respected English academy in 1960s Saigon, and he is well accustomed to bribing a forever-changing list of government officials in order to maintain the elite status of his school. Fiercely proud of his Chinese heritage, he is quick to spot the business opportunities rife in a divided country, though he also harbors a weakness for gambling haunts and the women who frequent them. He devotedly ignores all news of the fighting that swirls around him, but when his only son gets in trouble with the Vietnamese authorities, Percival faces the limits of his connections and wealth and is forced to send him away. 
In the loneliness that follows, Percival finds solace in Jacqueline, a beautiful woman of mixed French and Vietnamese heritage whom he is able to confide in. But Percival's new-found happiness is precarious, and as the complexities of war encroach further into his world, he must confront the tragedy of all he has refused to see.
Graced with intriguingly flawed but wonderfully human characters moving through a richly drawn historical landscape, The Headmaster's Wager is an unforgettable story of love, betrayal and sacrifice.
Praise for The Headmaster’s Wager
“[A] sumptuously plotted first novel . . . Lam goes for the jugular, combining an operatic love story . . . with evocations of Vietnam’s occupation by the Japanese and the later horrors of the Vietcong’s persecution of the city of Hue. . . . His most provocative character is the shadowy Teacher Mak, Chen’s longtime aide-de-camp, whose shifting masks of comrade and adversary potently embody the intricate survival tactics required of aliens afloat in a country of fractured allegiances.”The New York Times Book Review

“A vivid, palpable and lyrical document evoking a forgotten segment of modern Vietnamese history. An unforgettable portrait of love, betrayal and sacrifice.”Shelf Awareness

"A masterfully paced exploration of a world convulsed by war, wherein faith and reason no longer hold sway . . . Lam marshals his characters with humor suspense, and tenderness as the fall of Saigon looms . . . [and] depicts a world caught in an implacable cycle of violence, leavened only by the grace of a father's love."Publishers Weekly (starred review)
popularity
248
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shortDescription
A superbly crafted, highly suspenseful, and deeply affecting debut novel about one man’s loyalty to his country, his family and his heritage
 
Percival Chen is the headmaster of the most respected English academy in 1960s Saigon, and he is well accustomed to bribing a forever-changing list of government officials in order to maintain the elite status of his school. Fiercely proud of his Chinese heritage, he is quick to spot the business opportunities rife in a divided country, though he also harbors a weakness for gambling haunts and the women who frequent them. He devotedly ignores all news of the fighting that swirls around him, but when his only son gets in trouble with the Vietnamese authorities, Percival faces the limits of his connections and wealth and is forced to send him away. 
In the loneliness that follows, Percival finds solace in Jacqueline, a beautiful woman of mixed French and Vietnamese heritage whom he is able to confide in....
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bisacCodes
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      • description: FICTION / Historical / General
      • code: FIC019000
      • description: Fiction / Literary
      • code: FIC027050
      • description: Fiction / Romance / Historical / General
Formats
Adobe EPUB eBook
Works on all eReaders (except Kindles), desktop computers and mobile devices with reading apps installed.
Kindle Book
Works on Kindles and devices with a Kindle app installed.
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