Kao Kalia Yang's autobiographical novel, The Latehomecomer, chronicles the journey of a family of Hmong refugees as they flee from the jungles of Laos to the refugee camps of Thailand and the processes of transition and assimilation into the United States. Yang explains that when she becomes aware of her cultural heritage she is motivated to preserve the endangered histories of the Hmong people. His grandmother is the author's greatest resource, but the memoir also includes recollections from other family members who recount the arduous and horrific odyssey of a Hmong refugee. The terrifying descriptions of fleeing Viet Cong soldiers, atrocious conditions in refugee camps, transit to the United States, and experiences as first-generation immigrants help inform our understanding of the Hmong in the twentieth century. The fragility of life is a common theme in the novel. Generations of Hmong have spent their lives in the company of death. Yang explains that the Hmong are a people without a homeland, driven out first by China and then by Laos. From 1960 to 1975, the secret war in Laos devastated the Hmong population: “A third of the Hmong died in the war with the Americans. Another third was massacred later.” Living as refugees in the Ban Vinai refugee camp in Thailand, death was still present. Yang was born in the refugee camp and describes it as a place where "death cries out in familiar voices." Hmong lives in the camp were lost to diseases such as dysentery and polio, or to infections caused by spoiled food and unsanitary living conditions. The camp's population was also reduced by suicides, especially around the new year, when the Hmong saw the new beginning as an opportunity to escape their abominable conditions. easy for Hmong refugees. Before their arrival in America, they encountered starvation, disease, the death of loved ones, and inhumane conditions. The Hmong elder watched helplessly as Hmong culture and traditions dissolved. Once in their new home, life for the Hmong would be a constant struggle to assimilate into American culture, and most families depended on their children as translators and guides. For first-generation Hmong immigrants, escaping poverty seemed impossible, and most could only hope that education would provide their children with a better life. The Latehomecomer is an extraordinary and moving story. I didn't know about the suffering endured by Hmong refugees before the book was published. I enjoyed reading Kao Kalia Yang's memoir, The Latehomecomer, and would recommend it to anyone interested in Hmong culture or American immigration.