Photo: Gavin Li
SUMMER ROLLS
Fiction, April 2024, Trapeze
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.
Tuyền Đỗ
Agent: Juliet Pickering
Assistant: Finlay Charlesworth
Biography: Tuyền was born in Vietnam and raised in East London. Ignoring her artistic impulses, she followed a traditional route through University with a degree in Finance, before joining her sisters in the restaurant business. After several years, she found that she could no longer suppress the need to express herself creatively and began attending adult drama classes. Juggling training by day and running the restaurant by night, she made the decision to break from hospitality to follow her heart on the morning of her 30th birthday.
Since then, Tuyền has made her name as a writer and performer on stage and screen. She is a recipient of the 2019 Peggy Ramsey award for her debut play Summer Rolls. Her debut novel, adapted from the play SUMMER ROLLS, will be published by Trapeze in 2025.