In this novel by a Laotian/Canadian, a single day passes as the employees of a small nail salon run by the author in an unspecified city at an unspecified time discuss a wide variety of topics. Narrated by the owner, they speculate about their own lives and that of their clients, including their love lives with some quite profound and some quite amusing observations. Much of this is in a language that their clients can’t understand. The owner is said to be a former boxer, missing one finger, which adds a layer of mystique to the observations.
I read the author’s previous novel How to Pronounce Knife and didn’t particularly enjoy it, but this one is a gem- light but fun. As someone who has never set foot in a nail salon, I suspect that it will be even more popular with most women, who frequent such shops. It justly has won the 2025 Giller prize.
4.8/5
Thanks, Vera.
The Passionate Reader 