Introduction

When Crystal’s husband, Brian, suddenly announces that his company is sending him to manage its Bangkok office and that he expects her and their children to come along, she reluctantly acquiesces. She doesn’t want to leave the job she loves and everything familiar in their small Oklahoma town; it’s 1975, however, and Crystal, a woman with traditional values, feels she has to be a good wife and follow her husband.

Crystal finds beauty in Thailand, but also isolation and betrayal. Fighting intense loneliness and buffeted by a series frightening and shocking events, she struggles to adapt to a very different culture and battle a severe depression?and, ultimately, decide whether her broken relationship with her husband is worth saving.

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Excerpt

Chapter 1

“You’re moving to where?” asked Amber, as they walked out of the grocery store together.

“Bangkok,” repeated Crystal. “You know, the capital of Thailand, in Asia.”

“That’s the end of the world! Are all of you going?”

“Yes, the whole family. Brian is going ahead soon, and then I’ll go over with Tim and Lisa in June.”

“I don’t believe it. I don’t think anyone from Pico City has ever moved to Thailand. How will you live? What will you do? Are you just going to leave your job here? How will the kids go to school? Isn’t there a war going on over there? What will I do without being able to talk to you?”

“Look, it’s five thirty. I’ve got to run to pick up Lisa from her softball practice. I promise I’ll tell you all about it before I leave and write to you regularly while I’m gone. Just to say now . . . the Vietnam War is about to end. And I think Firstgas will help us get set up. I’m pretty excited, but also a bit apprehensive. It certainly is a long way away—and from the little I know about it, it seems very, very different.”

Crystal waved good-bye to Amber and ran into the parking lot. Her friend Mary spotted her and shouted, “Hey, Crystal, how’s the job?”

Not wanting to be delayed, Crystal shouted back, “Love it!” and hurried to drive off.

That evening, Brian cooked hamburgers on the grill. After they ate, the family sat in the living room to talk about Bangkok. Brian began, “My boss told me today that I have to leave for Bangkok very soon, by the beginning of May. That’s pretty sudden, I know, but I’m sure you can all manage with that.”

Tim and Lisa both stared wide-eyed at their father. Then Lisa piped up, “Wait! We can’t leave in the middle of the semester!”

“Your father and I agreed that he’d go ahead, and we’d stay in Pico City until school finishes in June,” Crystal said. She kept her tone even, but she was roiling inside. Brian had come home yesterday and told her that the company needed him in Thailand immediately. He was just going to walk out with his suitcases. All the household packing, all the arrangements about what to take and what to leave, what to do with the house and cars, all the shopping for things they would need to take to Bangkok, she suspected that all that would fall to her to accomplish. At this point, she couldn’t even imagine what that would entail. But it did occur to her that Brian had never asked her if she would be willing to go, or if she would be willing to take up the responsibility for making the arrangements for the move. He had just assumed that she would be a good wife, following her husband and doing what was necessary. And she was going along with it, she thought, so she guessed she was.

Lisa, who was ten and beginning to look a lot like Crystal, was full of questions. “What do they speak in Thailand? Will we have to go to school in another language?”

Tim, two years younger, chimed in, “Can I bring my books and toys? What about my train set? Will we have a TV there? Will I be able to watch The Jetsons?”

Brian sighed. “They speak the Thai language in Thailand. I’m told it’s pretty difficult to learn. But there is an American school there—and Firstgas will pay the tuition. So, you guys will be going to school in English. Shouldn’t be a problem. And Tim, I don’t know the answer to your questions. I think the electricity works differently there. And I have no idea if they have TV or not. I guess we’ll find out when we get there.”

Still puzzled about what their life would be like in Thailand, Lisa and Tim went upstairs to do their homework.

Crystal told Brian that she was planning to tell her boss about the move tomorrow, before he heard rumors. “I hope you understand that giving up the job I love is going to be very hard. You know how important it is to me.” Crystal’s voice cracked, and she paused to gain control. Then she asked, “Do you know if spouses of employees of foreign companies are allowed to work there? Do you think there will be opportunities for me? I don’t see how I can work in radio if I can’t speak the language. But radio is what I know. Do you think there is an English-language radio station?”

Brian said, “So many questions! We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Thanks a bunch for the comforting words, Brian, she thought, but she said nothing. view abbreviated excerpt only...

Discussion Questions

From the author:

1. Do you think Crystal made the right choice in deciding to follow Brian to Bangkok? What would her life have been if she had stayed with the children in Pico City? What would Brian have done in Bangkok? Would he have taken Judi as a “minor wife”?

2. Why was Brian able to overcome his upbringing and religion so readily as he continued to see Judi and to lie to Crystal?

3. Why couldn’t Crystal figure out how to make a life in Bangkok? Was the problem intrinsic to her? Or was she the victim of circumstances?

4. If Crystal and Brian had moved to Bangkok today rather than in 1975, would Crystal have been so lonely?

5. Crystal continued to teach Nit and push her to learn, despite repeated warnings that she shouldn’t get involved with a servant. Was she right to try to help Nit? Did her American view of equality blind her to the problem? Was she continuing for her own sake or Nit’s?

6. Why was Brian so perceptive with respect to his work, but so unperceptive about Crystal’s situation?

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