The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

A gripping spy novel, an astute exploration of extreme politics, and a moving love story, The Sympathizer explores a life between two worlds and examines the legacy of the Vietnam War in literature, film, and the wars we fight today. It is April 1975, and Saigon is in chaos. At his villa, a general of the South Vietnamese army is drinking whiskey and, with the help of his trusted captain, drawing up a list of those who will be given passage aboard the last flights out of the country. The general and his compatriots start a new life in Los Angeles, unaware that one among their number, the captain, is secretly observing and reporting on the group to a higher-up in the Viet Cong. The Sympathizer is the story of this captain: a man brought up by an absent French father and a poor Vietnamese mother, a man who went to university in America, but returned to Vietnam to fight for the Communist cause.

And later in the hour we'll hear an excerpt from Arts Express featuring a little poetry and a look at the new film “Jimmy’s Hall” about political activist Jimmy Gralton, who was deported from Ireland during the country's 'Red Scare' of the 1930s.  http://www.publicrealityradio.org/programs/artsexpress