The Manicurist’s Daughter

Signed Copies Available

THIRD PLACE BOOKS

An emotionally raw memoir about the crumbling of the American Dream and a daughter of refugees who searches for answers after her mother dies during plastic surgery.

Susan Lieu has long been searching for answers. About her family’s past and about her own future. Refugees from the Vietnam War, Susan’s family escaped to California in the 1980s after five failed attempts. Upon arrival, Susan’s mother was their savvy, charismatic North Star, setting up two successful nail salons and orchestrating every success—until Susan was eleven. That year, her mother died from a botched tummy tuck. After the funeral, no one was ever allowed to talk about her or what had happened.

For the next twenty years, Susan navigated a series of cascading questions alone—why did the most perfect person in her life want to change her body? Why would no one tell her about her mother’s life in Vietnam? And how did this surgeon, who preyed on Vietnamese immigrants, go on operating after her mother’s death? Sifting through depositions, tracking down the surgeon’s family, and enlisting the help of spirit channelers, Susan uncovers the painful truth of her mother, herself, and the impossible ideal of beauty.

The Manicurist’s Daughter is much more than a memoir about grief, trauma, and body image. It is a story of fierce determination, strength in shared culture, and finding your place in the world.

Reviews

“Lieu illuminates the daily grind — and drive — of her immigrant parents’ experience.”
— New York Times

“… fast-paced, vulnerable, humorous, and empathetic. Lieu’s compassionate epiphanies about her family’s reasons for silences are particularly poignant. An intimate Asian American memoir about family, memory, and grief.”
– Kirkus Review

“Lieu’s candor about her mother’s faults (body-shaming chief among them) and righteous anger at the surgeon who killed her set this apart from similar fare. It’s a generous portrait of grief that will touch those who’ve struggled with loss.….a stirring debut”
– Publishers Weekly

“A stunning, raw, brave memoir that wouldn’t let me go.”
―V (formerly Eve Ensler), author of Reckoning and The Vagina Monologues

"With tenacity, wit, and fierce love, Susan Lieu reconstructs the mother she lost – from memory, through detective work, by spirit conjuring…defying all obstacles and naysayers. A high octane roller coaster to healing."
―Thi Bui, author of The Best We Could Do, an American Book Award winner, a National Book Critics Circle finalist, and an Eisner Award finalist

"The quintessential story of an immigrant's kid―filled to the brim with heartache and hope."
―Gene Luen Yang, author of American Born Chinese, a National Book Award finalist and Printz Award winner

“Devastating yet healing, painful yet humorous, epic yet intimate, The Manicurist’s Daughter made my eyes weep yet my heart sing. Susan Lieu astonishes me with her ability to transform pain, fear and anger into healing, freedom and hope. This book is the pathway to peace, an admirable achievement from one of America’s leading diasporic Vietnamese performance artists.”
―Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, international bestselling author of The Mountains Sing, a Dayton Literary Peace Prize finalist, and Dust Child