Lệ Hằng was born three years after the end of World War II. Establishing herself as a writer of love stories Le Hang had published twelve novels in Vietnam by 1975. Following the fall of Saigon in the Vietnam War Le Hang largely abandoned her writing. After joining her family in Australia in 1989 she began writing again and some of her novels including Stainless Silk found publishers in the USA.
According to the organisation Creating Opportunities in Vietnam (COVN), Le Hang was 'among the first female writers who opened the dialogue of sexuality from the female point of view in her novels. She challenged the Vietnamese traditional view of marriage and relationship, asserted the woman's right to sexual desire in a society where sex is taboo amongst women. Her heroines were allowed to follow their inclinations instead of being dictated by social codes of conducts.'
(Source for quote: Creating Opportunities in Vietnam (COVN) website, http://www.covn.org/index.php)
