‘Sunshine Nails’: David and Goliath story in a bonbon of a novel
You have Nail.
The thought that passed through my stupid pun-playing brain when I started reading a new novel by Mai Nguyen, a debut that is proving to be one of the treats of the summer and also one of the most acute depictions of modern Toronto. Set in the world of mani-pedis – of all things – and told through the shifting perspectives of a Vietnamese family – the Trans – “Sunshine Nails” (Simon & Schuster Canada) indeed reminded me, at least in part, of a certain Nora Ephron movie starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.
Shut down the bookshops and turn on hand massages and the central conflict echoes: a family business is under threat when a flashy, blackheaded American chain invades the hood.
Cue the ripple effects. Pass the brush.
The bonbon of a novel already attracts a lot of attention. One of the key blurbs in the book comes from Taylor Jenkins Reid (of “Daisy Jones and the Six” fame) who calls it “an insightful, moving story of striking depth, addressing gentrification, family expectations and generational differences. ” NPR also recently chimed in, gushing that “beneath the bright yellow, purple, and pink hues of the dust jacket is a novel of character studies that simmers with questions about work, class, generation gap, and the expectations faced by refugees making new homes in their asylums.” ”
It’s a sleight of hand that Nguyen openly acknowledged when I touched base with her this week. “Kind of like sneaking veggies into mac and cheese,” she joked.
Crazy not-so-rich Asians. Also the kind of lightness it evokes.
When I told her that sometimes her kind of book is the most effective means of telling different stories – a beach book, with a familiar David/Goliath plot, one that explores micro-aggressions and contains all sorts of little nuggets, like how the parents in her book, Phil and Debbie, are named after 1980s pop stars Phil Collins and Debbie Gibson, in the way so many Vietnamese people of a certain generation changed their names to “blend in” – she admitted, “I was certainly aware of not wanting to come across as too preachy or too ‘This is the lesson of the day.’”
And even though “Sunshine Nails” is set in Toronto’s Junction neighborhood, it’s clear she was informed by the nail salon her own parents have been running since 1997 in Halifax.
“I’ve always wanted to know why: why a nail salon?” Nguyen told me. “And why did all their Vietnamese friends also open nail salons all over North America? I discovered an interesting history of how the actress Tippi Hedren (of Hitchcock fame) taught the first wave of boat people in California the art of manicure, wanting to teach them skills to thrive in America. I thought it was such a charming origin story that essentially catapulted thousands of immigrants, including my parents, into this super niche profession that has not only lifted so many people out of poverty, but has become this massive $8 billion industry.
After a blockbuster revelation in the New York Times about nail salons rocked the industry, she was further inspired. And knew she had the background for her novel.
Something that also definitely nails it – pun intended! – is the subject of economic uncertainty. One almost ripped from the front pages of newspapers like this.
“The reality of life in Toronto is that it’s expensive! We all know that food costs are rising, rents are astronomical, interest rates continue to rise, but I was very curious what all this meant for small business owners in particular. Time and time again I see headlines of mom-and-pop stores closing after decades of operation, then a cannabis store moves in and we never hear from those owners again. Mabel’s fables. Tequila bookworm. Galaxy Donuts… so many businesses shut down quietly, never to be heard from again.
“I’ve always wondered,” Nguyen continued, “what happened in the months, weeks leading up to the shutdown. Why did they have to close? How were they emotionally, mentally? How hard have they pushed themselves to keep their livelihoods from disappearing? I can imagine that many shopkeepers don’t go down without a fight, which is why I wrote this book about a family that will literally break laws to prevent their salon from closing.”
Tickled by the way Toronto forms its backdrop, I was reminded how powerful fictional depictions of a city can be. And how they can circumvent our collective mythology. So many of the earlier Margaret Atwood novels did this brilliantly: novels like “Cat’s Eye” and “The Edible Woman” and “The Robber Bride” brought everything from the Royal Ontario Museum to the Rivoli on Queen Street West to life. Michael Ondaatje’s iconic ‘In the Skin of a Lion’ brought the construction of the Bloor Street Viaduct to life.
While this particular book has a very different tone, it nevertheless succeeds in mythologizing the Junction. However, I was surprised to learn that Nguyen had never actually lived in that neighborhood on the west side. Only visited.
“I wanted to put the book here because I felt the mix of old and new was more striking than any other neighborhood in Toronto,” she says. “You have old Victorian buildings next to sleek, square apartment blocks. You have an indie nail salon that charges $25 for a shellac manicure next to a Scandinavian furniture store that charges $300 for a pepper mill. There is so much evidence that the neighborhood is moving into the future, but you can still see places where it still clings to its past.
A metaphor in itself for the so-called ‘boat people’: the approximately 60,000 Vietnamese who fled to Canada after the end of the Vietnam War. One that certainly plays into the backstory of the Tran family in “Sunshine Nails.” Just like in Nguyen’s own life. The whole identity anxiety that often affects second-generation children.
To end our exchange on a lighter note, I had to ask: What’s the status of her own nails, especially now that she’s in the middle of book promotion?
“Despite being a nail salon kid, I’m a regular Jane when it comes to nails,” she confessed. “Short, trimmed, no polish is my MO unfortunately. However, I treated myself to some amazing bright yellow shellac for book launch week to match the cover. It brightens up my day when I look at my nails, so I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts.”
