Landbridge

Landbridge by Y-Dang Troeung is a searing memoir that explores the intricacies of identity, trauma, and resilience. It follows Troeung's journey from Thailand's Khao-I-Dang refugee camp to her new life in Canada, unfolding the story of not just her personal odyssey but the broader narrative of Cambodian refugees. The book delves into the horrors of the Khmer Rouge regime, and how these atrocities continue to ripple through generations.

Born in Khao-I-Dang and named after it, Troeung was the last of 60,000 Cambodian refugees admitted to Canada when she was just one year old. Her family escaped the aftermath of Pol Pot’s brutal regime, and in Canada, Y-Dang served as a literal poster child for the benevolence of the Canadian refugee project. This role, however, carried the weight of representing the unknowable horrors of her homeland.

In Landbridge, Troeung interlaces a family and personal memoir with profound reflections. She scrutinises the transactional relationship between host countries and their refugee inhabitants, dissecting the demands for testimony against the backdrop of dispassionate academic scrutiny. Through her fragmented yet powerful narrative, she explores the contradictions inherent within ethnic, regional, and national identities.

The memoir is interspersed with poignant letters to her young son, Kai, promising to pass down their family legacy with love. Troeung's writing shines like a solitary candle in a pitch-black room, each chapter offering a glimpse into the complexities of trauma and displacement. She bravely addresses how these issues are recorded, contributing a bold and ground-breaking intervention to the field of life writing.

Landbridge stands as a testament to the strength and resilience of refugees, challenging readers to reconsider the narratives surrounding migration and memory. Its fragmentary chapters compose a mosaic of experience and emotion, making it both a courageous memoir and a deeply significant work in understanding the human cost of historical atrocities.