A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK
A WASHINGTON POST BEST FEEL-GOOD BOOK OF 2022
For fans of Amy Tan, KJ DellAntonia, and Kevin Kwan, this sharp, smart, and gloriously extra (Nancy Jooyoun Kim, The Last Story of Mina Lee) debut celebrates a family of estranged Vietnamese women who experiences mishaps and unexpected joy after a psychic makes a startling prediction about their lives.
Everyone in Orange Countys Little Saigon knew that the Duong sisters were cursed.
It started with their ancestor, Oanh, who dared to leave her marriage for true loveso a fearsome Vietnamese witch cursed Oanh and her descendants so that they would never find love or happiness, and the Duong women would give birth to daughters, never sons.?
Oanhs current descendant Mai Nguyen knows this curse well. Shes divorced, and after an explosive disagreement a decade ago, shes estranged from her younger sisters, Minh Pham (the middle and the mediator) and Khuyen Lam (the youngest who swears she just runs humble coffee shops and nail salons, not Little Saigons underground). Though Mais three adult daughters, Priscilla, Thuy, and Thao, are successful in their careers (one of them is John Chos dermatologist!), the same cant be said for their love lives. Mai is convinced they might drive her to an early grave.
Desperate for guidance, she consults Auntie Hua, her trusted psychic in Hawaii, who delivers an unexpected prediction: this year, her family will witness a marriage, a funeral, and the birth of a son. This prophecy will reunite estranged mothers, daughters, aunts, and cousinsfor better or for worse.
A multi-narrative novel brimming with levity and candor, The Fortunes of Jaded Women is about mourning, meddling, celebrating, and healing together as a family. It shows how Vietnamese women emerge victorious, even if the world is against them.
