Summer Rolls
On sale
24th April 2025
Price: £24.99
Selected:
Audiobook Downloadable / ISBN-13: 9781398704787
“‘The women in this house are the same,’ she said. ‘When we love, we love with all of ourselves.'”
Mai is navigating life in 90s London as a first generation British-Vietnamese teenager, caught between two cultures. Her mother, Trinh, is constantly reminding her to work hard and be grateful.
But Trinh was young once too, living a vibrant and complicated life in Vietnam until forced to flee her war-torn home. Now her focus is the son she thought she’d lost, and the daughter she desperately wants to protect. She tries to forget the memories buried in the rubble of the life she left behind.
Moving into young adulthood, Mai begins to follow her calling as a photographer, and falls in knotty but passionate love despite her mother’s warnings about boys.
When secrets from the past finally resurface, the family’s bonds are truly shaken. But if Trinh and Mai can overcome their differences and stand together, then maybe there could be hope for a better, brighter future…
An epic, heartwarming novel that explores love, the meaning of freedom and the importance of family, for fans of PACHINKO and ON EARTH WE’RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS.
Mai is navigating life in 90s London as a first generation British-Vietnamese teenager, caught between two cultures. Her mother, Trinh, is constantly reminding her to work hard and be grateful.
But Trinh was young once too, living a vibrant and complicated life in Vietnam until forced to flee her war-torn home. Now her focus is the son she thought she’d lost, and the daughter she desperately wants to protect. She tries to forget the memories buried in the rubble of the life she left behind.
Moving into young adulthood, Mai begins to follow her calling as a photographer, and falls in knotty but passionate love despite her mother’s warnings about boys.
When secrets from the past finally resurface, the family’s bonds are truly shaken. But if Trinh and Mai can overcome their differences and stand together, then maybe there could be hope for a better, brighter future…
An epic, heartwarming novel that explores love, the meaning of freedom and the importance of family, for fans of PACHINKO and ON EARTH WE’RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS.
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Reviews
SUMMER ROLLS is a poignant exploration of intergenerational trauma and its impact on familial bonds, thoughtfully illuminating the Vietnamese refugee crisis of the 70s and 80s. With nuance and compassion, it examines the delicate balance between independence and empathy, leaving a lasting impression of the quiet resilience often embodied by mothers.
Beautiful poetic work, filled with a mother's love and life force on every page. A story that crosses generations and continents. Of perilous journeys, haunted histories and hopeful futures. The story of this family is a window into the story of many many others. As a South Asian woman, this resonated with me deeply and it is a universal story of mothers and daughters, buried family secrets and intergenerational trauma and healing. It stays with you and you want to go back and read it again and feel the world between the sentences. I was transported through the voices of Mai and Trinh and could feel their connection even when they were unable to express it. Food as love, solace and sustenance was a powerful image in the writing that every immigrant will relate to. A gift of a book.