A grief so intense that it gives rise to a theatrical solo performance and eventually this memoir, The Manicurist's Daughter. This is how Susan Lieu has processed her loss of her mother who died chasing the American version of beauty. Her mother died during a tummy tuck procedure.
Born first generation American to parents that immigrated to the United States via the life threatening boats after the fall of Vietnam. Susan Lieu was raised to be a hard worker, noncomplainer, and definitely not to be emotional. She didn't do so well with that last one.
The Manicurist's Daughter goes into a great deal of detail of the life of Vietnamese immigrants living in America and their work ethic and focus on helping families left behind to make it out. Food is also front and center in this culture and great descriptions are had frequently throughout the memoir.
Trying to find out what happened to her mother, why it happened is met by silence or she is repeatedly told to just let it go. But Ms. Lieu cannot let it go. In the quest for answers she finds her memories are not as accurate as she once thought and that her father wasn't hiding things from her, he genuinely didn't know the answers.
Chapters are cleverly labeled with the different translations of her mother's Vietnamese name. Different diacritical marks express the different meanings and each of these have been transcribed into English for the chapter headings which Ms. Lieu feels defines parts of her mother's personality.
The author simultaneously gets closer to family and annoys the heck out of them. Ms. Lieu seems to have found herself, her voice, and a better understanding of her heritage, family, and more importantly, her mother.
Born first generation American to parents that immigrated to the United States via the life threatening boats after the fall of Vietnam. Susan Lieu was raised to be a hard worker, noncomplainer, and definitely not to be emotional. She didn't do so well with that last one.
The Manicurist's Daughter goes into a great deal of detail of the life of Vietnamese immigrants living in America and their work ethic and focus on helping families left behind to make it out. Food is also front and center in this culture and great descriptions are had frequently throughout the memoir.
Trying to find out what happened to her mother, why it happened is met by silence or she is repeatedly told to just let it go. But Ms. Lieu cannot let it go. In the quest for answers she finds her memories are not as accurate as she once thought and that her father wasn't hiding things from her, he genuinely didn't know the answers.
Chapters are cleverly labeled with the different translations of her mother's Vietnamese name. Different diacritical marks express the different meanings and each of these have been transcribed into English for the chapter headings which Ms. Lieu feels defines parts of her mother's personality.
The author simultaneously gets closer to family and annoys the heck out of them. Ms. Lieu seems to have found herself, her voice, and a better understanding of her heritage, family, and more importantly, her mother.