The eight-story collection, set in different locations in California and Vietnam, earned favorable reviews from critics, particularly for offering insight into the lives of migrants like those the book depicts.

An unnamed ghostwriter takes up a job to write a memoir about Victor, a man who is stricken with survivor guilt.

The title comes from how the ghostwriter admires the elderly, "black-eyed women" in Vietnam who told ghost stories to passersby.

At first, Liem is uncomfortable with Parrish and Marcus's lifestyle and considers calling his refugee service contact, but instead, he slowly adapts.

Afterward, when Marcus is asleep, Liem answers a short phone call from Parrish before reading the reply from his father, who asks him to "live a correct life."

When not attending enrichment summer school, an unnamed boy, works at his parents' convenience store in a Vietnamese enclave in San Jose.

One day, Mrs. Hoa enters their store demanding that they contribute money to fighting communism in Vietnam; she says that a group of riled refugees are currently in Thailand gearing up for an assault on the homeland.

After she is gone, his father reminds his mother that not paying may hurt their business as rumors about their "unpatriotic" behavior could spread throughout the community and turn people against them.

One night, the family experiences a home invasion but precautions are taken by his mother, and the aggressor's inexperience results in minimal injuries and little theft.

Realizing this to be true, he and his mother travel to Mrs. Hoa house after closing hours, seeking a compromise as well as an apology.

Arthur Arellano, a middle-aged Mexican-American living in Orange County, stores a boatload of counterfeit goods in his garage as a favor for Louis Vu.

However, in that terminal period, a donor, Louis's father Men Vu, is matched with Arthur and after a successful transplant, he is healthy again.

Although the donor was supposed to remain anonymous, a bug in the hospital computer system results in Arthur receiving mail stating that he has Men's liver.

The morning after, she cooks breakfast for her visit son Vinh, who gives her advice on how to help stimulate her husband's mind and encourages her to retire from her job as a librarian.

James Carver, a retired African-American USAF pilot during the Vietnam War, and his wife Michiko, visit their daughter Claire and her boyfriend Legaspi, a roboticist, in Quảng Trị.

Carver is apathetic as he did not care much for the country during his war years which leads him to clash with Claire, a language teacher who claims she has a "Vietnamese soul."

Thomas's father slashes Sam's car's tires and hurls a boulder at the windshield before they slyly leave the neighborhood.

A few days later, Sam confronts him regarding damages to her car; Thomas offers her an envelope filled with money without revealing that his father did it.

He speaks of the tunnel as if he is sympathetic to a communist victory of Vietnam, which alarms Vivien, but Phuong assures her it is an act for tourists.

During their visit to an amusement park the next day, the two share a pod on a Ferris wheel where Phuong tells Vivien she wants to be like her: self-sufficient and independent.

[6][7] Kirkus Reviews stated that "Nguyen is the foremost literary interpreter of the Vietnamese experience in America, to be sure.

"[8] Writing in The Washington Post, Megan Mayhew Bergman described The Refugees as "an important and incisive book written by a major writer with firsthand knowledge of the human rights drama exploding on the international stage — and the talent to give us inroads toward understanding it.

"[10] Aram Mrjoian, for The Chicago Review of Books, said that "The stories themselves are expansive and well paced; each one builds steadily and confidently.

"[12] Michael Schaub, writing for NPR, wrote that The Refugees is "an urgent, wonderful collection that proves that fiction can be more than mere storytelling — it can bear witness to the lives of people who we can't afford to forget.

"[13] Yiyun Li, in The Guardian, wrote that "With anger but not despair, with reconciliation but not unrealistic hope, and with genuine humour that is not used to diminish anyone, Nguyen has breathed life into many unforgettable characters.