A fantastic look at a Canadian community, a family of immigrants and their efforts into making Canada a home for themselves and their children. Sunshine Nails, while a universal story, centers around the Trans who settled in Toronto from their home in Vietnam. Phil and Debbie raised two children, Jessica and Dylan, to be independent and get good jobs without working as hard as they did. And then Jessica, the rebellious one, quit her job, left her fiance and moved back home.
A story about perseverance, passion and persistence, about reinventing who you are despite, or in spite of, the competition. When Jessica leaves her job as associate casting director on the West Coast of Canada to move back East, she fears repercussions and ridicule from her parents, and never imagines herself working in their nail salon. A calamity of circumstances has the family taking bets on themselves, learning the meaning of blackmail and the life lesson of being happy while you work.
Quickly learning life is not all about money was not what they were prepared for. Battling long hours, low pay and headlines that spoiled their business practices, The Trans built a community of risk takers, big spenders and spoiled business owners who didn’t understand loyalty.
A beautiful story of loss, love and starting over which makes me understand why Mai Nguyen has been invited as one of Canada’s Literary Finest to Read by the Sea Literary Festival! Published with Simon & Schuster Canada, this book has a worldwide appeal and I’m eager to read what Nguyen writes next!
Thanks for reading,
Sarah Butland