The Refugees is a work of fiction: Viet Thanh Nguyen’s short-story collection about people shaped by displacement, family, memory and life between Vietnam and the United States. It is not a documentary or a general guide to refugee policy. Grove Atlantic published the US hardcover in 2017 and paperback in 2018; UK editions are also listed by Hachette UK.
What is The Refugees about?
Nguyen’s collection follows characters whose lives connect Vietnam and the United States, often across the distance between a country of birth and an adopted home. The publisher frames the stories around home, family, immigration and the American experience. Their concerns include displacement, identity, memory, war, sexuality and the complicated ties between people who leave and people who stay.
The publisher’s examples give a sense of the range: a young Vietnamese refugee in San Francisco, an older couple confronting dementia and memory, and a young woman in Ho Chi Minh City whose half-sister returns from America. These are glimpses of the collection, not a complete account of every story.
Why is the book called The Refugees?
Nguyen has connected the title to the way contemporary fear of refugees can obscure history. In a 2017 TIME interview, he said: “I wanted to make the point through the title that the xenophobia and the fear that so many people have for a contemporary refugee from the Middle East, for example, is very ahistorical,”
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#1 Best Overall
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The collection approaches that idea through individual lives and relationships rather than through a policy overview. Its literary focus is how migration and displacement affect memory, belonging and family across generations.
Is it a documentary or a nonfiction book about refugee policy?
No. The Refugees is a short-story collection. Grove Atlantic and Hachette UK identify it as fiction, and UNHCR includes it as fiction in its 2026 refugee book list. Readers looking for laws, asylum procedures or current refugee statistics will need a separate nonfiction or policy source.
Rank #2
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Which editions are listed?
The publishers list editions in both the United States and the United Kingdom. The publication dates, page counts and ISBNs below distinguish those listings; availability and price can vary by retailer and market.
| Market and format | Publisher-listed date | Pages | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| US hardcover, Grove Atlantic | February 7, 2017 | 224 | 978-0-8021-2639-9 |
| US paperback, Grove Atlantic | January 2, 2018 | 240 | 978-0-8021-2736-5 |
| UK ebook, Hachette UK | February 7, 2017 | not stated by publisher | 9781472152541 |
| UK paperback, Hachette UK | February 1, 2018 | not stated by publisher | 9781472153784 |
The Grove Atlantic figures are from its US edition listings; the ebook and paperback dates and ISBNs are from Hachette UK’s listing. The publisher records identify formats and bibliographic details, but do not establish differences in text, annotations or supplementary material.
Rank #3
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How can you identify the right book?
Use the author’s name as well as the title when searching or checking a catalogue: The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen. Then match the market and format to the ISBN in the table. A retailer’s current stock, price and available formats may differ from the publishers’ bibliographic listings.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What stories are included?
A South Australian public library catalogue records titles including “Black-eyed woman,” “The other man,” “War years,” “The transplant,” “I’d love you to want me,” “The Americans,” “Someone else besides you,” and “Fatherland.” That catalogue record is not sufficient to verify a definitive contents list, so consult the contents page of the specific edition for its complete listing.
Quick Recap
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