In November, #ReadWithMC readers picked up E.M. Tran's debut novel, Daughters of the New Year. The first half of the novel follows Tran, Triu, and Nhi, the daughters of Xuan Trung, a former beauty pageant queen who emigrated to the United States. Trung is obsessed with predicting her daughters' fortunes through the Vietnamese zodiac, but each of her daughters is completely out of step with Trung's expectations. As the story progresses, the reader is transported back in time to see the lives of the older generations of the Chung family and how their traumas are reflected in the present day.

In striking prose, "Daughters of the New Year" dives into the social struggles faced by first-generation immigrants, while also confronting the intense pressures placed on immigrant children. The author brilliantly reveals the many misconceptions and accumulated resentments that immigrant children have toward their parents."

However, Tran's unabashed tackling of racism and misogyny caught readers' attention. Writes @beeisforbooks, "She doesn't shy away from the racism and misogyny that Vietnamese people, especially women, face on a daily basis." From language barriers to trying to find the right condiments at the local grocery store, every day is a struggle to be understood and respected."

Each month, we will collect reviews from our virtual book club members so that everyone looking for their next great read can have a collection of recommendations. Here is what #ReadWithMC readers have to say about "Daughters of the New Year."

"A beautiful book that deserves a picture with this beautiful floral mural in Cleveland. If you like multi-generational stories, pick up a copy. This beautiful novel is unique in that it focuses on several generations of women in a Vietnamese family, told in reverse chronological order, beginning with the present and ending with the past. The first half of the novel focuses on Xuan's daughters, Tran, Nie, and Triu. They grew up Vietnamese-American in New Orleans and have each dealt with the pressures and expectations placed upon them in different ways. Tran, the eldest, is a longtime honor student who aspires to a prestigious legal career, but insists on independence from his parents and is trying to come to terms with his sexuality. Nie, the middle son, has appeared in the mainstream media as the only minority to participate in shows like "The Bachelor," which is filmed in Vietnam. The youngest child, Trieu, is full of unfulfilled potential. We learn how these characters relate to each other and what events and experiences have shaped them. The author does an excellent job of revealing the misconceptions and accumulated resentments that immigrant children have toward their parents. She also notes how shocking and difficult it can be to grow up as a minority in a different country and have one's appearance and upbringing be so different from everyone else's, while still being able to highlight and celebrate the Asian experience and Vietnamese culture. I also appreciate the novel's strong sense of place and time, with events such as 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and the Vietnam War having an impact."

-@readwithkeely

"✨️ ʙᴏᴏᴋ ʀᴇᴠȡ ✨️ . Published Date: 10.11.2022 . Book Review: Daughters of the New Year is the debut novel by E. M. Tran. It is the family story of a multi-generational Vietnamese family. Instead of going the traditional route, Tran decided to take the reader from the present day to the past of the first families to emigrate from Vietnam to the United States. (Don't let that deter you from reading this novel.) Tran's writing style is beautiful. She gives us a sense of what life can be like for a refugee seeking a new home in America. Tran explores intergenerational pain in a way that resonates with me, the reader. She does not shy away from the racism and misogyny that Vietnamese people, especially women, face on a daily basis. From the language barrier to trying to find the right condiments at the local grocery store, every day is a struggle to be understood and respected. Saigon is bustling and dizzyingly vibrant. The city is filled with the southern dialect I grew up with, and I eavesdrop on conversations over the sound of motorcycles. It is almost impossible to speak Vietnamese out loud, so there is no need to listen carefully. The ponytail of my black hair grazes the small of my back, sweat running down the back. Blending in with the surging crowd, I walk through unnoticed. My grandmother's jade shines on my collarbone. My Saigon is not real. And this me, fluent in my native tongue, is also not real. I fill in the gaps in my family's history, read about stories and histories, imagine their intersections. I tell myself that when I regain fluency and can act without shame, I will visit Vietnam, a country my parents have turned away from since 1975. E.M. Tran's DAUGHTERS OF THE NEW YEAR centers on the pursuit of a lineage in the midst of obliteration and its byproduct, the Third Culture. Her debut is not your typical family drama. While it portrays the women of the Thrun family living in post-Katrina New Orleans, it also sharply shifts the focus to their ancestors. The story goes back to the Vietnam War, French colonization, and the early Vietnamese struggle against the Han Chinese. Each generation finds itself drawn to the water, whether it be the Mississippi or the Saigon River. This metaphor of drowning or survival leads to an ethereal and haunting resilience. By juxtaposing a bouquet of stories, Tran demonstrates the circulation of personal and broader histories. The challenge of assimilation is an extension of resistance to imperialism. Although each half of the book is fragmented, this structure foreshadows larger questions: how do we tell an inherently incomplete story?" and "How do small acts of resistance ripple across generations?" I am another Vietnamese-American woman, my childhood on the Pacific Ocean and my current location on the waterfront between the Hudson and East Rivers. When I long for home, which is often, I look at my hands. In doing so, I am reminded of Thich Nhat Hanh's words, "You will meet your parents and all the generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment ...... You are a continuation of each of these people."

-@scienceowlreads

". Daughters of the New Year by E.M. Tran 3.5/5 stars Daughters of the New Year follows the lives of generations of women in a Vietnamese family, but in the reverse order. We first meet the three sisters, Truck, Nee, and Trieu, who live in New Orleans and grapple with first-generation issues such as fulfilling their own dreams while pleasing their parents. These women are haunted by past generations, which sometimes appear in the present as shadows and images. As the book progresses, time moves backwards, and the reader meets relatives from the past (all women), learning about their struggles over the years and how intergenerational trauma is passed on. The contemporary characters were very real and vivid, but some of the older generations seemed to be lost to us because they appeared only in glimpses. Sometimes it was hard to follow because the timeline was reversed. For me, it was a rare book that started out very strong but lost momentum towards the end. I enjoyed the audiobook very much. The pronunciation of names and phrases was excellent, especially in a tonal language that is completely foreign to me. I also enjoyed the information about the zodiac signs of the month woven throughout the book. What is your zodiac sign? Do you know your lunar zodiac sign? AOTD: I am a Gemini and a Goat. ♊️ ."

-@martasbooktherapy

"If you want to read flawless prose about a mother and daughter rubbing elbows with each other, the first half of this book is as good as it gets. Xuan came to America as a refugee from Vietnam. Living in post-Katrina New Orleans, she calls her daughters every year to tell them the good fortune associated with their zodiac signs. Suan spends hours of research and interprets the world and her daughters through it. This is one of my favorite parts of the book, adding whimsy, mythology, and humor to what might otherwise feel like a family squabble. It also illustrates the rift between Suan and her American-born daughters. The girls must navigate a world in which they are not "Vietnamese" enough for their community and not "American" enough for the world at large. The second half of the film takes us back in time to Vietnam. We follow the family's matriarchal lineage. I found this part of the film less successful. The zodiac is mostly gone. But these women are incredibly strong, and their silence hides jaw-dropping moments of shock. I hoped in my heart that the author would finally get back to Shuang and her daughters. It felt like a chapter was missing to me. Still, there is much to like in this book and I look forward to what E.M. Tran will do next."

-@lonereaderspath