William Wheaton

Sophie William Wheaton

There are few books you read which change your life and your outlook on the peoples of the world-but "Sophie" is most definitely one of them! Looking back to my days on active duty from 1965-1968 during the Vietnam War as a young United States Navy JAG officer, I simply did not have an appreciation or understanding of the terrible plight of the people in Cambodia who were under the threat of a brutal Communist takeover which would essentially destroy their world as they knew it. The hero of the book is a law student named Savy in Phnom Penh, the capitol of Cambodia, in 1975 when he sets out on a dangerous, exciting, and yes romantic journey from his homeland and family in Cambodia to America. Savy takes the reader back to his happy, youthful days in Cambodia before the Communist Khmer Rouge victory and the fall of Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975. His vivid portrayal of everyday life in Cambodia before the Communist take over of the country gave me entirely new insights and a really deep empathy for the Cambodian people-much different than reading an Enclopedia's factually accurate but emotionless view of Cambodia and its people. "Sophie" is overflowing with emotion through out the book leading up to the ending which will make you cry. Believe me, reading this book will jolt your senses and change your life forever. Douglas F. MacPhail, attorney, CDR, USN Jag Corps, retired.