I am a big fan of memoirs, especially emotionally raw and reflective ones like The Manicurist’s Daughter. This memoir is about Susan’s strength and determination during her 20-year quest to find answers about her mother after her untimely death due to a tummy tuck gone wrong. It is a story of uncovering the past as well as a discovering one’s purpose.

From customs to communication styles, I really enjoyed how Lieu gave the reader insight into Vietnamese culture. One thing I particularly loved were the descriptions of the different dishes her family served; not only did many sound delicious, it showcased the importance of meals in Vietnamese culture. I think it is vital that we read diverse stories from cultures different than our own, and I feel like this book is a great opportunity to do just that.

This story was heartfelt and so vulnerable. Lieu’s journey ended up being more than learning about her mother. It was a memoir about relationships–with one’s family and oneself. She shared her personal body image struggles and the impact her family and her culture has had on it. Lieu also made important points about how people in the beauty industry takes advantage of refugees and immigrants to sell cosmetic procedures. She related these facts to her mother’s own experience with her botched tummy tuck and the sinister plastic surgeon who preyed on Vietnamese women.

Personally, I did not care for how slow paced The Manicurist’s Daughter was. I typically enjoy more medium paced books. There were some redundancies in some of the details, which I perhaps only noticed because I read the book in two sittings, but I wanted to note it.

Additionally, as an atheist, it was difficult for me to read the spiritual aspects of the memoir because I felt like I had to suspend my belief (or lack thereof); however, I know that these spiritual elements are vital to Lieu’s story. I cannot expect every person to share my feelings on spirituality, but I wanted to put it out there for any atheists or agnostics to know ahead of time that there is a lot of spiritual content.

(4.5 rounded up)

GREAT book! I loved how this book tied together Vietnamese culture along, the American Dream, and the toxic parts of American culture. What appears to be silly stories from Susan's childhood develop throughout the book into larger life lessons that I found myself relating to despite having a different upbringing than Susan. I found the author very self-aware and the book made me think a lot about myself, my family dynamics, and the impact of nature vs. nurture. Would definitely recommend this book!

What a wonderful read about family. Loved it.
Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

ARC copy provided by NetGalley.

The Manicurist's Daughter knocked the wind out of me. What a beautiful meditation about the author's families. It captured the distemperate and ephemeral essence of grief and we walked along with the artist as she created something from it, something that - critically - was not this novel. There is a quote that I once read (on Arabelle Sicardi's tumblr, if that means anything to anyone but me...) about how grief (or perhaps trauma) makes you do weird shit, and I've been trying to find it since. I think it captures what felt like the essence of this work - that you will be forever changed, and that often those changes alienate you from the people you love in the same way their grief alienates them from you. What The Manicurist's Daughter told me is that the secondary work of grief is to find ways to be alien together, no matter how long that takes.

The Manicurist’s Daughter has been keeping me company these past few weeks, where I read a little at a time, alongside my fiction reads.

Susan Lieu was the first in her family to be born in America- her older siblings were all born in Vietnam, and her parents escaped as refugees in the 1980’s. Susan grew up helping out in the two nail salons that her hard-working mother opened, and she spent her days there hanging out with her aunties and other family members that her mother helped sponsor and bring over. But when Susan was eleven, her world was turned upside down when her mother died from a tummy tuck gone wrong. No one would talk about what happened, and Susan was left with a gaping hole left by her mother and a distant and fractured family.

This book chronicles Susan’s journey into adulthood and married life as she struggled to find meaning and the truth of what happened to her mother. “Sifting through depositions, tracking down the surgeon’s family, and enlisting the help of spirit channellers, Susan uncovers the painful truth of her mother, herself, and the impossible ideal of beauty”. It’s a book about identity, grief and healing. I admired her resiliency and transparency as she told her story. I hope the process of writing this book brings further healing and closure.

Thank you to @celadonbooks , who were kind enough to send copies of this book for all the members of my book club. I’m looking forward to discussing it more! It publishes in March 2024.

💅 Do you get your nails done? For me, it’s a treat, but I do love it when my nails are painted.

“On the last day of her life, Má, my Vietnamese refugee mother and proud owner of two nail salons, went in for plastic surgery—a tummy tuck, the narrowing of her nostrils, a chin implant—and figured she would be home the next day with her beautiful new body.”

At the age of eleven, after her mother passed from a botched plastic surgery, Lieu struggled to grieve. Raised in a family that never showed emotion or vulnerability, Lieu’s mother was hardly spoken of after her death and Lieu had to rebuild her life alone in silence. For years, Lieu wrestled with the question “why”. Her mom had it all. The American Dream, the picture-perfect life. Why would she risk it all for physically beauty?
We follow Lieu as she searches for answers about her mother, works to heal herself and her hostile relationships with family members, and works to find her place in the world as an American-raised Vietnamese woman.

Pieces of Lieu’s Vietnamese roots are braided throughout this entire memoir and I found it fascinating to read about. From names and phrases to traditional Vietnamese meals and practices, I was swept away by the way Lieu wrote about her heritage. Lieu is a natural storyteller and writes in a way that makes you crave more of her words. An incredible read that will stick with me for a long time. A must read memoir for 2024.

Thank you NetGalley for my digital copy. Out 03/12/2024!

Very coming of age. Susan's memoir is a very insightful and often sad look at life as a refugee in America and what it means to lose a mom way too soon in life. I really appreciates the woven in parts of her Vietnamese culture.
There were parts for me that felt very methodical timeline and less story telling.

I recently read The Manicurist's Daughter by @susanlieu and loved it!

Lieu's memoir tells her family's story of arriving in America as Vietnamese Refugees shortly before Susan was born. Lieu's parents both worked in and owned nail salons and brought over several members of her mother's family to work in the salons. While the family had very little disposable income, there was a focus on appearances, which led Susan's mother to opt for plastic surgery, a choice that cost her life. Lieu was only about 11 years old when her mother passed, and had to grow up very quickly. While she maintained relationships with her father and siblings, they were strained at times, as everyone wanted Susan to just move on after her mother's death, something that a grieving tween cannot easily do on her own. Additionally, a rift formed between her father and her mother's side of the family, and so Susan was no longer able to communicate with the people who knew her mother best. She spends her life asking questions about her mother's life and death, and not receiving many answers.

Weaving together a coming-of-age story and an inquiry into the life of her mother, Lieu's memoir is interesting, emotional, and heartfelt. Lieu pieces together her mother's story slowly, as if we are also part of the inquiry, receiving only small tidbits of information and hitting a lot of deadends. I also really appreciated the information about the family's difficulty fleeing Vietnam as this is something I haven't read much about. Overall it is a really well written memoir and one that I would definitely recommend.

I read this book shortly after reading Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner, and while different cultures and circumstances, the two memoirs have a lot in common. So if you loved that one, definitely consider picking this one up when it is published this March! Thanks to @netgalley and the publisher @celadonbooks for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC! This memoir follows Susans journey for answers about her mothers death and her quest to connect with her family. This was a sad but insightful memoir.

The cover intrigued me and hoped the story would be just as good. Susan tells her story beautifully, giving tribute to her family. I thought her story was sad but also full of hope and insight. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

The Manicurist's Daughter by Susan Lieu has recently been named one of the most anticipated books of 2024 by Goodreads and I could not agree more with this recommendation. I loved so many things about this book. Ms. Lieu writes eloquently and poignantly about her family's departure from Vietnam as refugees and adjustment to life in the US. Lieu's mother, the matriarch of the family opens and operates nail salons in California leading the family with charisma, bravery, and hard work. She dies tragically when Susan is 11 years old from a botched tummy tuck. The author describes her journey as an adult to learn about her mother. The Manicurist's Daughter reveals several challenges that immigrants and first generation families face at the hands of manipulative physicians and mind controlling cult leaders. Body image, expectations of perfection and unwritten rules about food challenge the Lieu family and this struggle is captured in heartbreaking ways in the Manicurist's Daughter.

This is one of the best memoirs that I have read in 2023 and I highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Heart wrenching raw memoir of the death of the authors mother when she was a young girl from botched plastic surgery.Susan Lieu’s family refugees from Vietnam her mother was the family leader the owner of two nail salons.The author searches for answers living in a world where the one person she seeks advice from has suddenly passed away. #netgalley #celadonbooks

The Manicurist's Daughter A Memoir by Susan Lieu Poignant story about perseverance, healing and love.. Well written with touches of humor that lighten the narrative. Interesting and emotional read.
Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the opportunity to preview the book.