The impact of war and displacement echoes through three generations of a Vietnamese family, showing how historical trauma shapes identity and relationships, particularly between mother and son. The narrative explores how pain and resilience are inherited alongside cultural memory.

The paradox of writing a letter to a mother who cannot read becomes a powerful metaphor for the gaps between generations, cultures, and experiences. The novel examines how we bridge these distances through alternative forms of expression and understanding.

Little Dog's journey of self-discovery encompasses his experience as a gay Vietnamese-American, navigating multiple intersecting identities while trying to find his place in a world that often demands conformity and simplification of complex identities.