Same Same

About the Book

While growing up in Vietnam, Pham Thi Phuong never dreamed of becoming a manicurist. But when Saigon falls in 1975, a pregnant Phuong and her Air Force officer husband, Minh, are forced to flee the country on a fishing boat. With only two dollars in their pockets, Minh and Phuong finally arrive in Seattle, Washington, where they begin a new life filled with seemingly insurmountable challenges.

As the young couple welcomes their daughter, Mai, into their uncertain world, Phuong struggles to find happiness and independence in a foreign culture. Despite sensing that her mother is desperately unhappy and that her parents’ marriage is rapidly unraveling, Mai tries to remain a loving and strong daughter. In a last ditch effort to make ends meet, Phuong opens a nail salon. Expected to be a dutiful daughter and help the family business grow, the initially reluctant Mai soon develops a deep compassion and respect for her mother and the other women who become a part of the salon.

Same Same shares an intimate and heartwarming glimpse into the life of a Vietnamese nail salon worker who somehow remains strong and resilient throughout the trials in her life.

About the Author

Ly Nguyen was born in the United States to Vietnamese refugee parents. She is a graduate of the University of California–Santa Cruz. Her short stories have been published in the San Francisco Chronicle, Chocolate for a Woman’s Soul, Nha magazine, and As Is, a collection of Vietnamese-American Literary and Visual Art. Ly, her husband, and their two children live in Alameda, California.