Em

Written in her trademark style, Kim Thúy’s stunning and formally complex new novel reveals a fascination with connection. Em, which in Vietnamese means “little brother”, “little sister” or “beloved”, explores how humans traumatized by war and exile are driven to seek out love and family when their present catches up with their past. Through the linked destinies of a family of characters, the novel touches on Operation Babylift, which evacuated thousands of biracial orphans from Saigon in April 1975, the nail polish and nail salon industry, as well as the rubber plantations of Indochina that was.