Banyan Moon

Ann and Hương slowly sort through the Banyan House, putting things in garbage bags to be taken to the dump or donated. Noah continues to try to repair things with Ann, but she ignores his texts. Ann finds her old drawings from when she was younger and remembers Minh buying her art supplies and secretly leaving them on her bed. When she tried to thank Minh, she would pretend “she had no idea what [Ann] was talking about” (84). Ann wants to throw away her old drawings, but Hương insists on keeping them. 

Hương and Ann drop off some bags at a secondhand store. The owner of the store is Wes Asher, Ann’s high school friend and later boyfriend. The meeting between Wes and Ann is sweet, but a little awkward. Later, Noah calls and Ann decides to answer. He asks if Ann wants him to come to Florida; she refuses, hanging up after promising they can talk later. She goes downstairs, where Hương slices oranges to eat dipped in salt. This is what Hương craved when she was pregnant with Ann; Ann’s cravings have been similar.

Minh reflects on her past. In the summer of 1965, she conceived Hương. She was 17 and living in Vietnam. The American War (the Vietnamese name for the Vietnam War) had been going on for 10 years, and Minh’s family lived in the south. One day, Minh ran into a boy called Bình. He flirted with her and persuaded her to go on a date with him. They met in secret all summer, and Bình gave Minh a photograph of himself. Bình convinced Minh to meet him at night and coerced her into having sex with him. Afterward, he told her he loved her. After a few more meetings at night, Bình started to ignore Minh when he saw her in public. Bình got engaged and then married to another girl, and Minh realized that she was pregnant.

At Minh’s funeral, Hương regrets the lack of fanfare and wailing mourners. Phước is there with his wife, Diane, and their two adult daughters, Meg and Scarlet. Hương wonders why Ann is trying to hide her pregnancy from her. She pulls Ann aside and asks her about the baby. Ann says they can talk after the funeral. 

Phước’s presence grates on Hương and she is angry with him for not visiting Minh more than once when she was in the hospital. Diane tells Hương that she and Phước are interested in moving into the Banyan House, or perhaps renovating it and renting it out as a B&B. Hương coolly reminds Phước and Diane that they have their own house and that they never visited when Minh was alive. Hương finds Ann again and suggests that she set up a work studio in one of the Banyan House’s many rooms. Ann reminds her that she is only staying temporarily. They consider the secrets Minh kept from them and the secrets they keep from each other. Hương remembers putting art supplies on Ann’s bed when she was a child.

Ann, Hương, Phước, and Diane are all in Minh’s lawyer’s office for the reading of her will. Ann feels contempt for Phước and reflects that Diane has converted him to Christianity. Phước and Diane receive Minh’s substantial savings, and their daughters receive her investments. Hương receives Minh’s car, the Oldsmobile, and Ann receives her jewelry. The Banyan House is split between Ann and Hương. Phước is deeply upset by this, as he wanted the house. He tells them that the issue is not over.

Ann and Hương drive to the beach and discuss their grief. Hương asks Ann about the baby, and Ann tells her about Noah’s infidelity and “his family’s crushing gaslighting” (119). Despite not knowing what her future will look like, Ann wants to keep the baby. She admits that she thinks about moving away somewhere and raising the baby by herself. Hương tells Ann that she will support her decision, whatever it is, but that for now, she wants to help Ann. Hương tells Ann that they should get the baby blessed at the temple.

The narrative shifts back to 1965. Minh kept her pregnancy a secret. She started to notice one of her older brother’s friends, Xuân. Xuân was a sweet and gentle young man. Though he was not particularly handsome, Minh felt safe around him. They began to court each other and grew closer. Minh eventually told him that she was pregnant. Xuân responded by asking to marry her. They married quickly so that no one would find out that Minh got pregnant outside of marriage. Minh cared about Xuân and was grateful for his gentleness and devotion, but knew that she did not love him the way he loved her. Hương was born, and Xuân “never indicated that Hương was anything but his” (129). Eventually, Minh and Xuân became more intimate with one another and Minh became pregnant with Phước. After Phước was born, Minh vowed to herself that she would do everything in her power to take care of her family.

In the present day, Ann finds some of Minh’s old photo albums. There is a rare photo of her grandfather, Xuân, and Hương tells Ann a little more about him: He was kind, and he supported Minh when she opened a small jewelry shop. 

Noah continues to call Ann. She has not told him about her pregnancy. She recalls meeting him when she was a junior in college; he was her TA. After college, Noah supported her as she began a career as a freelance illustrator. Hương called Ann’s career a “waste of an education” (136). Looking at the photo of her grandfather, Ann wonders what her grandparents’ relationship was really like.

Hương begins her swimming lessons at the local Y. She does not like putting her head underwater, but she is “determined to prove [herself]” (138). A month has passed since Ann came to stay at the Banyan House, and neither of them has made any plans to leave. Hương takes Ann to a Buddhist temple to get the baby blessed. On the way, Ann asks why Hương never talks about Ann’s father. Privately, Hương thinks about her ex-husband, Vinh, whose name Ann does not know. Hương sees herself as “the reason [Ann] has no father” (141). She brushes off Ann’s question.

At the temple, Hương takes Ann to a statue of “Quan Âm, the goddess of mothers and children” (142). They pray to Quan Âm, though neither of them holds strong religious beliefs. Nevertheless, the gesture means a lot to Hương. Hương admits that she is thinking of staying at the Banyan House and selling her condo to pay for some renovations. She asks Ann to stay with her at the Banyan House if things do not work out between her and Noah. She feels like this is a second chance for them to have the relationship they did not have when Ann was young. Ann smiles, and Hương begins to hope.