In spare, intimate prose charged with emotional power and a sly wit, she paints an indelible portrait of watchful children, wounded men, and restless women caught between cultures, languages, and values. In her startling debut book of fiction, Souvankham Thammavongsa vividly captures the day-to-day lives of immigrants and refugees, illuminating their hopes, disappointments, love affairs, acts of defiance - and, above all, their pursuit of a place to belong. A housewife learning English from daytime soap operas. A mother who works nights alongside her daughter, harvesting worms. A father who packs furniture to move into homes he'll never afford. A woman plucking feathers at a chicken processing plant. A young man painting nails at the local salon.
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