The Fortunes of Jaded Women is a family drama centered on the Duong sisters and their daughters, who have been living under a curse first set upon their ancestor Oanh, after she left her marriage to pursue true love. The family is cursed to never find love or happiness, and the Duong women would only bear daughters, never sons. Oanh’s current descendant and the oldest Duong sister, Mai Nguyen, is very familiar with the curse. She’s divorced and estranged from her mother, sisters, and all three daughters. Desperate for answers, she flies out to Hawaii to meet with a psychic. The psychic predicts that this year the estranged Duong family will finally be reunited and experience: a funeral, a marriage, and the birth of a son – signifying the end of the curse.

This book, despite being less than 300 pages, is a mighty and beautifully written story about the Vietnamese diaspora community and the sacrifices women make to ensure a better life for their children. A rollercoaster of emotions that will have you laughing one page and crying the next, I can guarantee you will fall in love with the chaotic and meddlesome Duongs. In this multi-narrative novel, we are told the story of the Duong women, each one multi-layered, charmingly fallible, and VERY dramatic. There is no one single diaspora experience and this book does an excellent job showcasing that. In the end, this book is about family, about HOPE, and about healing, and I am so grateful to Carolyn Hyunh for sharing this story with us. Do not miss out on this book!

(Note: I was provided an advanced copy of The Fortunes of Jaded Women by the publisher via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)