Sunshine Nails, Mai Nguyen
Sunshine Nails, Mai Nguyen
List: $25.99 | Sale: $18.20
Club: $12.99

Sunshine Nails

Author: Mai Nguyen

Narrator: Carolina Ðo, David Lee Huynh, Quyen Ngo, Vyvy Nguyen, Trieu Tran

Unabridged: 10 hr

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/04/2023


Synopsis

This “insightful, moving story with striking depth” (Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author) follows a Vietnamese Canadian family in Toronto who will do anything to protect their no-frills nail salon after a new high-end salon opens up—even if it tears the family apart.

Vietnamese refugees Debbie and Phil Tran have built a comfortable life for themselves in Toronto with their family nail salon. But when an ultra-glam chain salon opens across the street, their world is rocked.

Complicating matters further, their landlord has jacked up the rent and it seems only a matter of time before they lose their business. They enlist the help of their daughter, Jessica, who has just returned home after a messy breakup and a messier firing. Together with their son, Dustin, and niece, Thuy, they devise some good old-fashioned sabotage. Relationships are put to the test as the line between right and wrong gets blurred. Debbie and Phil must choose: do they keep their family intact or fight for their salon?

“Sharp, witty, and warmhearted, [Mai] 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” (Shelf Awareness).

About Mai Nguyen

Mai Nguyen is a Vietnamese Canadian author whose debut novel, Sunshine Nails, was longlisted for Canada Reads and named one of the best books of 2023 by NPR and CBC. Her journalism has appeared in Wired, The Washington Post, and The Toronto Star. Raised in Halifax, she now lives in Toronto with her husband, daughter, and French bulldog.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Mai on December 30, 2024

This is the Vietnamese Canadian experience, which is arguably similar to other Vietnamese diasporas in the US and Australia. The Trans own a nail salon. If you’ve ever been to a nail salon in a major metropolis, it is probably owned by a Vietnamese family. I get the parental conflict. I get hating yo......more

Goodreads review by emma on January 27, 2025

this is a book about a family nail salon sabotaging the chain that opens up across the street. as someone who is a fan of both pranks and supporting small business, i just hope the happy ending does not involve learning some kind of lesson about how crime is bad. worse, it's not really about sabotage......more

Goodreads review by Debra on June 17, 2023

Debbie and Phil Tran are Vietnamese refugees living in Toronto. They have built a life for themselves there and own a nail salon. Everything appears to be going well for them until a glamourous chain nail salon opens across the street. With their livelihood threatened and an increase in their rent,......more

Goodreads review by *TUDOR^QUEEN* on June 06, 2023

3.5 Stars I wouldn't normally have noticed this, but after a publishing marketer pushed this one my way about three times I decided to take the plunge. It does have elements I like such as a close knit family and hard work ethic. The story depicts the Tran family, Vietnamese immigrants who opened a na......more

Goodreads review by Nancy on April 29, 2023

Here is the naked truth: the publicist for Sunshine Nails sent me a messages that I was granted access to the novel. I took one look at the colorful cover and thought, nope, not for me. Then, I got a second. Third message, I thought, alright already, I will take a look at it. I took a look and kept r......more