The fortunes of jaded women by Carolyn Huynh

Jade is highly valued in Asian societies for good luck and protection against bad spirits. The necklace handed down in this story is a purple green colour, one of the rarest forms of jade. The Duong women are a multi-generational Vietnamese family cursed by a witch to never know love, to marry poorly, only ever have daughters, and never be able to invite the spirits of their ancestors into their home. The women are also ‘jaded’, the resentment and spite continually spiralling into heated arguments that become fiery and dangerous. Mothers are pitted against daughters, sisters against sisters, and cousins against cousins. The curse has been passed down by Oanh Duong through the years to Ly Minh Duang and her four daughters and then to her eight granddaughters.

The story is told from the perspective of each of these 13 or so women. It’s an incredible achievement – Huynh draws out each of these voices in interleaving chapters. They are each thoroughly rounded and realistic characters that we get to know and empathise with, though I must admit I did appreciate being able to refer to the family tree provided in the opening pages.

The saga takes us from predictions, to a funeral, a pregnancy, a wedding and a birth. The women are ‘dramatic, emotional, loud’. The men they encounter are variations on the white male Asianphiles, Vietnamese ‘Kevin Nguyen’ types, Korean heart throbs, and the American loser guy. There are a lot of laughs, and many farcical moments, as the romantic involvements become one huge tangle, that erupts just when it seems like there might be an opportunity for reconciliation.

Huynh has created a wonderful cast of characters, vividly depicting a community where everybody has their nose in everybody else’s business. It is very funny, but also a heart-warming revelation of the insecurities and loneliness that many women strive to overcome, to achieve the peace or the love that they need, - and such a powerful depiction of the mother-daughter dynamic, and the strong ties that underlay the relationship. It all comes together in an ending that is surprisingly unpredictable yet a satisfying conclusion. Just brilliant!

Themes: Vietnamese diaspora, Mother daughter relationship, Women, Romance.

Helen Eddy