Bobbie Ann Mason's novel In Country is the story of Samantha Hughes, known as Sam, and her quest to uncover the truth of the Vietnam War. For seventeen-year-old Sam, the war has particular significance: her father died in Vietnam shortly before her own birth.
The novel is divided into three parts; the first and last parts, written in present tense, frame the middle of the novel, told in a long flashback. As the story opens, Sam, Sam's maternal uncle, Emmett, a Vietnam War veteran, and Sam's paternal grandmother, Mawmaw, are driving from their home in Kentucky to Washington D.C. to visit the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial. There is the suggestion that some crisis, reached about two weeks earlier, precipitated the cross-country trip.
In the second part of the story, the novel.....
This is a free excerpt of 135 words. This section contains 1,144 words. This
study guide contains 25,998 words (approx. 87 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Literature Guide with our In Country Access Pass.
