Mai Nguyen's wickedly funny debut novel, Sunshine Nails, paints a layered, colorful portrait of a Vietnamese immigrant family working to save the titular nail salon--and their own relationships--from destruction when a flashy new competitor moves in.
Former refugees Debbie and Phil Tran have spent their adult lives working hard to keep their Toronto nail salon afloat. It's far from fancy, but between their devoted regulars and their efforts to keep costs down, they've managed to balance the books. Then right after their daughter, Jessica, moves back home from Los Angeles (smarting from a double-whammy setback in romance and career), a hip salon chain, Take Ten, sets up a location right across the street. Soon after, the Trans' landlord hits them with a big rent increase. Debbie and Phil do their best to fight the interlopers with the help of Jessica; their son, Dustin, who is wrestling with disillusionment about his job at Moodstr, a local start-up; and their niece, Thuy, who lives with them and works at the salon. But as they battle Take Ten's ruthless head of global expansion, Savannah, and her sleek publicity machine--not to mention the beautiful work done by her nail techs--the Trans start to wonder: Is it possible, or worthwhile, to destroy this new opponent? Or will the fight tear their family apart from the inside?
Nguyen deftly portrays the complex dynamics of this particular immigrant family: Debbie and Phil's fierce pride in the home they have built and the mingled love and embarrassment Jessica and Dustin feel for their parents. Thuy, whose parents sent her to live with Debbie and Phil so she could get an education, swings between resentment and loyalty toward her relatives; she's grateful to them but tired of being expected to work all the time. Nguyen's narrative focuses in turn on each of the five Trans, giving readers a window into each character's struggles: Phil's gambling problem and the guilt he carries from a past DUI; Jessica's shame at being forced to return home and watch her friends pursuing more glamorous careers; Dustin's frustration at being repeatedly passed over for promotion. Each of the characters will find themselves making some surprising choices in their quest to save the salon, and all of them discover that family loyalty--and their instinct for sabotage--runs deeper than they thought it might.
Sharp, witty, and warmhearted, Nguyen's debut tackles gentrification, small business ownership, prejudice in the workplace, and--most importantly--the depth of familial ties, and the power of a good manicure. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams
Shelf Talker: Mai Nguyen's sharp, witty debut novel tells the story of a Vietnamese Canadian family determined to save their nail salon from a shiny new competitor.