The Manicurist's Daughter | 
pickAbsolutely loved this memoir! Lieu's mother died at the age of 38 after a botched plastic surgery operation; she writes about how this event impacted the rest of her life. So moving! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Full review at: https://erinkonrad.com/2024/04/17/the-manicurists-daughter-book-review/
pickThis was very touching. The audiobook narration by the author made it even more special.
pickOverall, The Manicurist's Daughter is a memoir that I would recommend to any reader interested in Asian American memoirs or nonfiction books about the beauty industry. One highlight of this book is how open the author is to teling us what happened to her family. Instead of burying it away, she is telling us family secrets so that no woman will have to go through what the author went through.
pickIf this doesn‘t make a lot of best-memoirs-of-the-year lists, I don‘t know what will.
Susan‘s mom escaped Vietnam with her older children and made her way to the US. Susan, the first kid born in the US, grows up around her mom‘s nail salons until her mom dies in a tragic plastic surgery accident. Her family is torn apart. This sends Susan on a lifelong quest to understand her mom, why she had the surgery, and what happened during it.
pickI really enjoyed this memoir! Susan—& her family— have a journey & story that I deeply appreciated getting this window inside. At the heart of it lies the trauma of losing their Má when she was only 38. But Susan shares her grief & path to healing (along with some mouthwatering descriptions of the meals that brought her family together). It‘s well-written—raw at times with questions & realizations that are universal. A definite discussion starter!
This was a really interesting memoir, at the most basic level about Susan's desire to uncover what happened to her mother, who died from complications from plastic surgery when Susan was 11. As with any good memoir, there was so much more to it than that though! This brings up a lot to think about regarding health care, immigration, families, and self-discovery.
