Book review: Man by Kim Thuy
If you are a foodie who enjoys poetry, you'll probably love this slim volume. Its unusual format - each chapter is little more than a page and presented almost as a poem - make it easy to dip into.
by Kim Thuy
The Clerkenwell Press
If you are a foodie who enjoys poetry, you'll probably love this slim volume. Its unusual format - each chapter is little more than a page and presented almost as a poem - make it easy to dip into.
Kim Thuy's is a book to be savoured much like the delicate flavours of the Vietnamese cuisine that dominates the story.
We learn Man's story through snapshots of her life. First we discover she has three mothers: her biological mother, the nun who found her abandoned in a vegetable patch, and the one who raised her.
It is this third mother, eager to secure a better life for Man, who orchestrates an arranged marriage for her. Man's new husband is a lonely soul who lives in Montreal, Canada.
Longing for home and keen to make a connection with her new husband, Man begins to cook in his restaurant and soon discovers she has real talent in the kitchen.
There is no fiery plot that drives this novel. It reads more like a journal, an intimate account of a life where key facts - names, backstories - are left unsaid. As anyone who has spent time in Vietnam will know, tragedy is never far from any one family and Man has her tales of woe, but the pain is just hinted at.
