Linh, a beautiful young woman, married her professor because she so admired his idealism. When he sells out everything he believes in so as to support her, her love goes. The book follows Linh and Nguyen through Hanoi society after their breakup as they grapple with their consciences and ideals. Huong traces with grace and intelligence how her young heroine moves beyond illusions about politics and love to an understanding of how she can control her own destiny.

When Beyond Illusions was first published in 1987 it was immediately confiscated by government officials, but not before thousands of copies were snapped up by Vietnamese readers. Her second novel got her jailed for months without trial and brought her to the attention of the international community, where her growing reputation as writer and dissident was increased by the publication in the US and UK of Novel Without a Name and Memories of a Pure Spring (her work is still banned in Vietnam). Now Huong's debut novel has finally been translated into English; readers will find here 'one more eloquent plea for freedom and tolerance from an accomplished writer and conscience' San Francisco Chronicle.