The Headmaster's Wager

Percival Chen is the headmaster of the most respected English academy in 1960s Saigon. Fiercely proud of his Chinese heritage, he is a bon vivant, a compulsive gambler, and an incorrigible womanizer, who is well accustomed to bribing a changing list of government officials to maintain his school's elite status. He devotedly ignores all news of the fighting during the Vietnam War, choosing instead to focus on the business opportunities of a divided country and high-stakes mahjong games. When his only son gets in trouble with the Vietnamese authorities, Percival is forced to face the limits of his connections and wealth and send the boy away. In the loneliness that follows, he finds solace in Jacqueline, a beautiful woman of mixed French and Vietnamese heritage. As the complexities of war encroach further into his world, Percival must finally confront the tragedy of all he has refused to see, in an unforgettable story of love, betrayal, and sacrifice.

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