Preview
  • The Headmaster's Wager

  • By: Vincent Lam
  • Narrated by: Feodor Chin
  • Length: 15 hrs and 48 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (48 ratings)

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The Headmaster's Wager

By: Vincent Lam
Narrated by: Feodor Chin
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Publisher's summary

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.

©2012 Victor Lam (P)2012 Random House Audio
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What listeners say about The Headmaster's Wager

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent Book. Different Vietnam war perspective

Where does The Headmaster's Wager rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

The narrator was very skilled at reading what could have been a very complicated book. He was able to keep my interest and helped me enjoy the book even more.

Have you listened to any of Feodor Chin’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. I listened over a period of weeks while driving.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fallible protagonist but won my support

Well-plotted debut novel deserving of its accolades. Percival Chen is a fallible protagonist who has a significant hand in creating his own serial predicaments. Yet in the end I was pulling for him. The ephemeral maîtresse Jaqueline, half-French, half-Vietnamese, broke my heart. Vincent Lam’s description of Vietnam’s Chinese community in Cholon is brave and unsparing. The Headmaster’s Wager book is a better read than The Sympathizer that gained more attention.

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