My mom came to the United States as a 20 year old, mother of two. She left behind everyone she knew and moved to the middle of the country to live with her husband, who she barely knew. She grew up in Cần Thơ, along the Mekong Delta.
Ly Tran came to the US as a small child. She spent time in Thailand prior to arriving, but her earliest memories are of eggs and soy sauce. Then…the cold streets of Ridgewood, Brooklyn.
Along with her three brothers and both of her parents, Ly struggles to adapt to America. Working as a family for a sweatshop - making ties and cummerbunds, the Tran family adapts and grows. Ly, as the only daughter, is held up to a different standard than her brothers. She’s encouraged NOT to take the specialized tests for advanced high school placement. She’s not expected to go to college. She’s expected to work alongside her mother at the family owned nail salon. Ly, instead, finds people who believe in her and encourage her to use her talents.
That’s the short summary.
Now, here’s what I talk about what this book meant to me.
My mom worked endlessly once she arrived in America. She was a waitress (where she met my father), a seamstress sewing the W on the pockets of Wrangler blue jeans, a child care worker at a local day care, and as a nurse. She raised five daughters and a few grand kids. She also worked for almost 20 years to bring her family to the US. In 1993, my grandma, 2 uncles, 3 aunts and 2 cousins arrived in the cold winter. We stayed up late, screaming and laughing, eating on the floor of our recently converted garage. My cousins got up the next day and went to school with my younger sister.
Ly’s struggles with the school system and living between two worlds connected with me in ways that I had pushed down. I was an American by birth, but half of me is Vietnamese. I was raised VERY American, but I do have very Vietnamese habits….eggs and soy sauce being a huge one.
Reading about someone struggling to please her parents, but also realizing that there are other things in life to focus on. Her struggle with mental health is so familiar. The pushing it down, the seeing it as a weakness…100% the same.
Ly Tran is a magnificent writer and her openness and honesty in this memoir is something so rare. Immigrant stories are so important to the fabric of America and as part of literature. I expect great things from Ly and can’t wait to read what she has next.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book. Thank you Ly Tran for writing this. Let’s get some pho sometime.