Sunshine Nails by Mai Nguyen

Vietnamese refugees Debbie and Phil Tran have made a good life for themselves in Toronto, but their landlord has just jacked up the rent of their family-run nail salon, Sunshine Nails, and it's way more than they can afford. When Take Ten, a glamorous chain offering a more luxurious salon experience, moves into the neighborhood, the Tran family is terrified of losing their businessand the community they've built around them.

But daughter Jessica comes to their rescue. She's just moved back home after a messy breakup and an even messier firing. Together with her workaholic brother, Dustin, and recently immigrated cousin, Thuy, they devise some good old-fashioned sabotage. But as the line between right and wrong gets blurred, relationships are put to the test, and Debbie and Phil must choose: Do they keep their family intact or fight for their salon?

Full of memorable manicures and even more memorable characters, Sunshine Nails is a humorous and heartfelt novel about family, resilience, and what it means to start over.(From Simon & Schuster)

Sunshine Nailswas on thelonglist for Canada Reads 2024.

• 10 Canadian books to read during Asian Heritage Month
• Halifax-raised author paints nail-salon experience with honest brush in new book
• The best Canadian fiction of 2023

Mai Nguyen was raised in Halifax and currently lives in Toronto. She has written for publications such as Wired, The Washington Post, The Toronto Star as a journalist and copywriter. Sunshine Nails is her first novel.

How Mai Nguyen's experiences shapedSunshine Nails

"I wouldn't have written this book without my parents. Since I was eight, my parents have run a nail salon in Halifax for a very long time. It was where I hung out after school; I did my homework there, I brought my friends there to hang out and when I got older they hired me to do manicures and pedicures and it was where I spent a lot of my childhood."

It was their way to build a livelihood and seeing my parents thrive just from operating a nail salon inspired me to write a book showing the behind the scenes of what goes on there.- Mai Nguyen

"As I got older, I realized that my parents weren't the only ones that operated a nail salon. There were so many other Vietnamese immigrants in Halifax that also opened up nail salons. It was a refuge for them, it was their financial salvation and I learned that thousands of Vietnamese immigrants in Canada and the US opened up nail salons all over. It was their way to build a livelihood and seeing my parents thrive just from operating a nail salon inspired me to write a book showing the behind the scenes of what goes on there."

Interviews with Mai Nguyen

The Next Chapter16:57Mai Nguyen on a familys struggling salon in Sunshine Nails

Toronto writer Mai Nguyens parents opened a nail salon in Halifax when they immigrated from Vietnam. Its where Mai spent a lot of her time growing up, and now it is the inspiration for her debut novel Sunshine Nails. Ali Hassan talks with the author about the story of a family business struggling to stay afloat.