The Short Girls by Bich Minh Nguyen
Publication date/ Length: 2009 / 292 pages
Synopsis (from the jacket cover): Van and Linny Luong are tempermental opposites. Diligent, unassuming Van has 
found her calling as an immigration lawyer in the midwestern suburbs, but no one knows that her picture-perfect marriage has suddenly evaporated…
First line: “After Miles left, Van began checking the security alarm every time she entered the house.”
Review: I’m not sure how I found this lovely first novel, but I’m very happy to pass along my recommendation to others! Short Girls is the story of two sisters whose personalities are quite different and, as a result, they are not close at all. The older sister has always been quite driven and is now an immigration attorney in a problematic “perfect” marriage. The younger sister is accustomed to trading in on her looks, floating from job to job, seeking independence at all costs. What the sisters share is a quirky, difficult father trying to bridge the gap between his home country of Vietnam and his chosen home, America.
The joy of this novel is the deep and interesting characterization. Nguyen’s prose is very readable, very effortless, and her first novel made short work of a snowy cabin afternoon. When I finished, I realized that I could easily recommend this novel to most of my female friends. The sisters have wide appeal and I finished the novel hoping for a sequel, sad to see Van and Linny leave my life as I turned the last page.
Unique to my own reading, I also loved that the setting was in Michigan and Chicago and that the girls were my contemporaries. Although I’m not the daughter of first generation immigrants — and my sister and I are very close — I could relate to the cultural references intimately and think that everyone would relate to the sisters’ quest for identity and loving, sustaining relationships.
So, I strongly recommend this lovely novel! Anyone else found it yet?
I have heard about this book, but I haven’t read it or seen it reviewed very many places. Glad to know it’s a worthwhile read.
I love it when stories are set in Chicago or the suburbs as well. I’m assuming you live around there? Me too. This sounds like an interesting read. Thanks for the review.
I live in Minnesota, but visit my cousins in Chicago whenever I can… I went to college 45 min. away from the Windy City, too, so it has a special place in my heart!
It is! It is!