About the Book
The perfect complement to the exquisitely wrought novels Ru and Mãn, Canada Reads winner Kim Thúy returns with Vi, exploring the lives, loves and struggles of Vietnamese refugees as they reinvent themselves in new lands.
The daughter of an enterprising mother and a wealthy, spoiled father who never had to grow up, Vi was the youngest of their four children and the only girl. They gave her a name that meant “precious, tiny one,” destined to be cosseted and protected, the family’s little treasure.
But the Vietnam War destroys life as they’ve known it. Vi, along with her mother and brothers, manages to escape–but her father stays behind, leaving a painful void as the rest of the family must make a new life for themselves in Canada.
While her family puts down roots, life has different plans for Vi. Taken under the wing of Hà, a worldly family friend, and her diplomat lover, Vi tests personal boundaries and crosses international ones, letting the winds of life buffet her. From Saigon to Montreal, from Suzhou to Boston to the fall of the Berlin Wall, she is witness to the immensity of geography, the intricate fabric of humanity, the complexity of love, the infinite possibilities before her. Ever the quiet observer, somehow Vi must find a way to finally take her place in the world.
Checkout the Book
Check your Public Library’s website to borrow the book from where you regularly get your ebooks and digital audiobooks then join us for thought provoking discussions.
Reviews
“Thúy is known for her short and elegant stories about being a refugee and immigrant, and the challenges of adapting to a new culture. In her novels, we experience Vietnam’s colours and tastes, the difficulties of exile but also riches, and a search for identity that we can all recognize ourselves in.”
– The New Academy jury citation
“Kim Thúy’s novels are as compact as her tiny titles might suggest … but their poetic contents punch well above their weight in terms of story and raw emotional heft.”
– Becky Toyne, The Globe and Mail
“At once highly stylized and emotionally raw, Vi is as elegant, refined. Exquisite from start to finish.”
– Toronto Star
“Thúy’s fiction is wholly original. Not only does she pursue her very personal theme of the Vietnamese refugee experience, she does it in gem-like poetic prose so beautiful you want to read whole paragraphs twice.”
– Susan G. Cole, NOW
“Kim Thuy’s Vi is the most beautifully written book I’ve ever read. This is the perfect book to curl up with at the end of a busy day.”
– Lesley Wilkins, Blue Heron Books (Uxbridge, ON), 49th Shelf
“Thúy … bravely exposes the sordid reality of racism in Vietnam…. Vi, a fragment of the name Vincent, is another example of Thúy’s playfulness with words. In particular, Thúy studies distinctions between languages as if this scrutiny might divulge the reasons for distinctions between peoples…. [The] story feels freighted with history.”
– Donna Bailey Nurse, Literary Review of Canada
About the Author
Born in Saigon in 1968, Kim Thúy left Vietnam with the boat people at the age of ten and settled with her family in Quebec.
A graduate in translation and law, she has worked as a seamstress, interpreter, lawyer, restaurant owner, and commentator on radio and television.
She lives in Montreal and devotes herself to writing.
Other Books
- Ru (2009)
- À toi (2011), co-written with Pascal Janovjak
- Mãn (2013)
- Vi (2016)
- Le secret des Vietnamiennes (2017)
- Em (2020)
Awards
Thúy’s debut novel Ru won the Governor General’s Award for French-language fiction at the 2010 Governor General’s Awards. An English edition, translated by Sheila Fischman, was published in 2012. The novel was a shortlisted nominee for the 2012 Scotiabank Giller Prize and the 2013 Amazon.ca First Novel Award. The novel won the 2015 edition of Canada Reads, where it was championed by Cameron Bailey.
In 2016, Thúy published her third novel, Vi. An English translation, again by Fischman, was published in 2018. The book was named as a longlisted nominee for the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize.
Events
We are excited to be hosting Kim Thúy for two events that will be streamed via Facebook Live and can also be shared and viewed later.
On January 19 at 7 PM EST Shelagh Rogers from The Next Chapter on CBC Radio will interview the author in English, and on January 20 at 7 PM EST Kevin Sweet, arts reporter for Radio-Canada, will interview the author in French. You can find these events on our Facebook page.
