Inspired by the tales of four grandmothers-Thuan Le Elston's and her husband's-Rendezvous at the Altar: From Vietnam to Virginia traces Anne's southern upbringing to her Mad Men-like married life; Kim's family as they survive French colonialism and the Vietnam War; Mary's transformations through the Great Depression and two marriages; and Ty's migration from Hanoi businesswoman to Arizona matriarch. Through a mother's journal to her children and the four grandmothers' narrations that bridge punk band names to the Temple of Literature, Elston compares gender roles, parenting, aging, and dying in a multicultural family.