Review by Booklist Review
Thai's heartwarming debut showcases three generations of Vietnamese women and the complex relationships, traumas, and secrets they share. Ann has a successful career, a boyfriend from a wealthy, white family, and a social life rubbing shoulders with the upper class. Then an unexpected positive pregnancy test makes her question everything she's built up for herself. When she learns of her beloved grandmother Minh's death, Ann returns to her deteriorating childhood home, the Banyan House, on the Florida coast, and reluctantly reconnects with her estranged mother, Hương. There, Ann and Hương struggle to navigate their new mother-daughter relationship without Minh's comforting presence. As she reconnects with old friends and acquaintances, Ann learns of long-held secrets about her family's past and discovers the strength and resilience both Minh and Hương showed in the face of war, bad relationships, and other adversities. Jumping from 1960s Vietnam to the present, Thai's writing is lovely and engaging as she explores grief, trauma, and the binding power of familial love.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Thai debuts with an accomplished story of a Vietnamese American family's complex relationships and pressing mysteries. Ann Tran, a professional illustrator living in Michigan with her wealthy boyfriend, Noah Winthorpe, has been called home by her mother, Hư ơ ng, to the family's Banyan House on Florida's Gulf Coast, where her grandmother Minh has died. Ann's life is in disarray; she's pregnant and unsure about her relationship with Noah, who has been cheating on her. Minh had known what it was like to be a single mother facing uncertainty. She left her native Vietnam in 1973 to honor her late husband's dying wish that she protect their children. Hương, meanwhile, who always longed for an intact family, guards Ann from the truth of why Ann grew up without her own father. Now, as inheritors of the Banyan House, the two women have a chance to repair their relationship, and they decide to live there together until Ann's baby is born. Still, Hương worries Ann will find evidence in the house of what happened to her father. In an emotional conclusion, Thai satisfyingly settles the question of whether total honesty is necessary to sustain loving connections between mothers and daughters. There's no shortage of multigenerational family narratives out there, and this one really stands out from the pack. Agent: Abigail Walters, CAA. (June)
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Review by Library Journal Review
DEBUT Thai, who has written for publications as diverse as the Los Angeles Review of Books and Eater, presents a compelling look at three generations of women, from 1960s Vietnam to modern-day Florida. Successful Michigan-based artist Ann Tran has always felt a stronger connection to her grandmother Minh than to her mother, Huong. But when Minh dies and leaves Banyan House, the decaying home where Ann grew up, to Ann and her mother, Ann begins to question her beloved grandmother's motives, lies, and nastiness to others. The novel's three viewpoints and constantly changing time periods require some worthwhile concentration. Evocative descriptions of each locale add atmosphere and realism. Scenes of life during the Vietnam War add insight, and cameo appearances by the family's deceased men are surprisingly moving and provide additional glimpses into the women's lives. Though flawed and secretive, each woman is endlessly fascinating. Ann's unexpected pregnancy will unlock many "mysteries," keeping readers fascinated even if doubtful about her choices. VERDICT Readers who savor many unexpected twists and a surprising conclusion will be rewarded.--Susan G. Baird
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Long-held secrets haunt the lives of three generations of Vietnamese women. Ann Tran, an illustrator who lives in Michigan with her boyfriend, Noah Winthorpe, a college professor from a wealthy White family of country clubbers, gradually becomes aware of the disconnect between the life she thought she wanted with Noah and the life she actually would have chosen on her own. The realization is prompted by an unplanned pregnancy, but Ann takes time to think things over once she returns "home" to the Gulf Coast of Florida to mourn the death of her beloved and revered grandmother Minh, who had fled Vietnam as a single mother with her children during the "American War." Ann and her mother, Hương, who have long been at odds, must grapple with creating a relationship in the absence of Minh's overwhelming influence. Hương raised Ann as a single mother--though Ann was closer to her grandmother--and never told her the identity of her father. In the shadow of Minh's death, the two women move into the sprawling but deteriorated Gothic mansion--the Banyan House--they have jointly inherited and work to overcome the legacy of lies and misunderstandings that has permeated their family for generations. As Ann seeks to form a plan for her future, she becomes aware of complicated truths about her grandmother's life through explorations of the jam-packed rooms of the Banyan House and candid revelations from her high school friends about the woman she thought she knew so well. Thai deftly dissects the touchiness of strained mother-daughter relationships in a surprise-filled narrative that ranges from 1960s Vietnam to present-day Florida. Thai has created three strong, unique women determined to find their own paths despite daunting circumstances. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
