Through the author Susan Lieu’s search for knowledge of her mother who died at the age of 38 when Susan was eleven, the reader is brought into Susan’s family. The family members were boat people, finally able to get out of Vietnam after five tries. From a relocation camp in Malaysia, they made their way to California where through determination and hard work they became business owners of two nail salons. The extended family of aunts, uncles , and grandparents worked together and lived together in a culture dominated by food, visits to psychics, and communication with those who have passed. With the women, body image was important. Susan’s weight was continually commented on. She was body shamed and criticized in many ways.
In trying to find herself and like the person she is, Susan needed to know more about her mother and why her attractive mother chose to have the plastic surgery which resulted in her death. With members of her immediate family and extended family reluctant to talk about her mother, Susan returned to Vietnam to talk to people who knew her mother when she was young. She also reached out to the family of the surgeon who botched her mother’s surgery and delved into any records she could find concerning her mother’s surgery and last days in the hospital.
Susan Lieu’s book brings one into the world and culture of the Vietnamese people. It’s a book that helps one understand the immigrants’ experience in general.
I thank Celadon Books and BookishFirst for my copy of this book. #TheManicuristsDaughter @CeladonBooks
In trying to find herself and like the person she is, Susan needed to know more about her mother and why her attractive mother chose to have the plastic surgery which resulted in her death. With members of her immediate family and extended family reluctant to talk about her mother, Susan returned to Vietnam to talk to people who knew her mother when she was young. She also reached out to the family of the surgeon who botched her mother’s surgery and delved into any records she could find concerning her mother’s surgery and last days in the hospital.
Susan Lieu’s book brings one into the world and culture of the Vietnamese people. It’s a book that helps one understand the immigrants’ experience in general.
I thank Celadon Books and BookishFirst for my copy of this book. #TheManicuristsDaughter @CeladonBooks