Editorial Review: “Author Mark W. Sasse has written an emotionally charged and engrossing story. . . .The two main characters, Martin and My Phoung, are portrayed with great depth of emotion and their quest for redemption and self-acceptance is stunning…. I can’t say enough about this book; it’s a story that you don’t want to miss!!”   – Marilou George, Kindle Book Review

The Story:

An unlikely request. An unlikely adventure. An unlikely love. On his death bed, a Vietnam vet asked his estranged son a huge request – return his ashes to Vietnam. Martin Kinney Jr. does just that, but when his wallet is stolen at a Vietnamese festival, it sets in motion a series of events which will change his life and family forever. Two perspectives, one incredible and tragic story of love.

“My heart sank. I dumped my father’s ashes in the heart of communist Vietnam – over a thousand miles from the death of his comrades – over a thousand miles from the smile of that girl. How could I have been so stupid?”

Only the bumbling, overweight, thirtyish, stay-at-home Martin Kinney could have mistakenly flubbed his dying father’s request with such gusto. This thousand mile mistake awakens the ghosts of long-held family secrets and puts Martin on a fateful course with an unlikely romantic interest – a young, beautiful, yet troubled Vietnamese woman named My Phuong.

With its cross-cultural setting and unlikely romance, Beauty Rising creates a powerful, unique voice in today’s literature. In a swift-moving, dialogue-driven prose which is funny, honest, tragic and unpredictable, Beauty Rising explores the depths of culture, family, and love as the Vietnam War, a generation removed, continues to hang on the periphery of society, cursing families and causing destruction.

Originally published: 2012

LINK: Beauty Rising on Amazon