The Manicurist's Daughter

“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

“Lieu is a dynamo, spouting humor, profanity and wisdom in the same breath.”
–The LA Times (Books for Lunar New Year)

“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

“An intimate Asian American memoir about family, memory, and grief.”
–Kirkus

“Lieu’s resulting memoir is a stunning feat of investigation, introspection, wit and candor; it braids together family history, grief, body image, food, class, race, and resilience for insight that must not be missed.”
-ELLE

”[A] well-paced, panoramic memoir… her family story does not represent an irretrievable demise of the American Dream, but its radical, open-ended evolution.”
―NPR.org

”[Lieu] penned a beautifully written, poignant, and, at times funny, book about grief, body image and self-awareness – arriving at a place of healing and acceptance of herself and her family.”
―The Seattle Times

Susan Lieu is a playwright, performer, and daughter of Vietnamese refugee nail salon workers. She took her autobiographical solo theatre show “140 LBS: How Beauty Killed My Mother” on a 10-city national tour with sold out premieres and accolades from L.A. Times, NPR, and American Theatre. Eight months pregnant, she premiered her sequel “OVER 140 LBS” as the headliner for ACT Theatre’s SoloFest. Within one year she held 60 performances to over 7000 people. Her award-winning work has been featured at Bumbershoot, Wing Luke Museum, The Moth Mainstage, On The Boards, The World Economic Forum, RISK!, CAATA ConFest, Viet Film Fest, and has spoken at more than a dozen universities around the country. She serves as an Artists Up mentor, Artist Trust instructor, “Model Minority Moms” podcaster, and board member for international NGO Asylum Access. As an activist, she worked with Consumer Watchdog to pass a law to raise medical malpractice caps. Susan and her sister co-founded a chocolate company, Socola Chocolatier, based in San Francisco. Lieu is a proud alumnus of Harvard, Yale, and Hedgebrook. She is based in Seattle with her husband and son.

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