The Fortunes of Jaded Women

In Orange County's Little Saigon, a Vietnamese American community in Southern California, everyone knows the Dương women are cursed. Generations ago in Vietnam, Oanh Dương left her husband for a Cambodian man. Her scorned ex-mother-in-law hired a reclusive witch in the mountains of Sa Pa to ensure that Oanh would only bear daughters and that every woman in her lineage would marry poorly, condemning their ancestral spirits to wander. In Vietnamese tradition, only sons can invite ancestors to the household altar, so a family of nothing but daughters means the dead have no home.

Mrs. Mai Nguyễn, age 65, is the oldest of three Dương sisters and mother to three daughters. She flies annually to Kauai to consult the Vietnamese psychic Auntie Hứa (Linh Hứa), who this year predicts that within one turn around the sun, there will be one pregnancy, one funeral, and one marriage. The psychic warns Mai she could lose everything if she does not reconcile with her estranged family and whispers that Mai's grandchild will be a boy, which could break the curse. Mai dismisses the suggestion that she open herself to love but calls her middle sister, Mrs. Minh Phạm, for the first time in a decade.

The novel follows three generations of Dương women. In Seattle, Priscilla Nguyễn, Mai's oldest daughter and a tech CEO, is trapped in a deteriorating relationship with Mark, a white British man whose dating history consists exclusively of Asian women. When she finds flirty texts on his phone from a coworker, she says nothing, calculating that leaving him would end her chances at marriage. She has not spoken to her mother in over a year, not since a fight in which Mai declared there is no love in marriage.

In Los Angeles, Thủy Nguyễn, the middle daughter and a dermatologist, lives with Andy, her kind and steady boyfriend, whom Mai disapproves of for his modest salary. Mai arranges a setup with Daniel Lê, a wealthy, charming man, and Thủy begins secretly meeting him, recognizing she is becoming like her cheating father but unable to stop. In Sài Gòn (Ho Chi Minh City), Thảo Nguyễn, the youngest, runs a clothing line and grows attached to Jeff, a South African expat who insists they are just having fun.

A flashback reveals the family's history. After arriving in the US as refugees, the matriarch Mrs. Lý Minh Dương settled in Santa Ana and forced each daughter into an arranged marriage for survival. Mai never forgave her. The rift deepened when Kim Lương, Mrs. Dương's firstborn daughter long thought dead, reappeared from Vietnam with two young daughters. Mrs. Dương gave Kim the family house, and Mai, who had endured her arranged marriage partly to secure that home, cut ties with everyone.

The three sisters attempt a reunion at a dim sum restaurant but quickly fight over old grievances. Mrs. Phạm has secretly invited the youngest sister, Mrs. Khuyến Lâm, and Mai erupts, getting them all ejected. At a park, Mai reveals the psychic's predictions. They visit their mother, but Mrs. Dương refuses to reconcile unless they also make amends with Kim. Mai storms out. Mrs. Dương sits alone touching her jade Buddha necklace, a family heirloom passed from Oanh Dương, and senses her time approaching.

Mrs. Phạm, hiding worsening chest pains, visits her longtime herbalist, who gives her a mysterious vial to slip into Mai's drink. He explains that Mai's internal pain must heal for the family to heal and tells her to save one final drop for someone else.

Mrs. Dương dies alone at Fountain Valley Hospital. Most granddaughters send flowers and excuses; Elaine and Christine, Mrs. Lâm's daughters, drop off food but leave to run the family businesses. At the will reading, Mrs. Dương leaves Mai a small bungalow with a faded green door overlooking the ocean, a house she dreamed of as a young refugee. Mrs. Phạm slips the vial's potion into Mai's tea, saving one last drop.

For 49 days, the Buddhist mourning period, Mai sits in the temple parking lot grieving. Gradually each sister joins her: first Khuyến, then Minh, then Kim. They sit in silence, and the four sisters finally reconcile.

The potion takes effect when Mai meets Anh Lê at the Asian Garden Mall. Originally arranged as a paid marriage, the meeting becomes something real when Mai falls genuinely in love for the first time. She introduces herself as Mai Dương, reclaiming her maiden name. The curse begins to reverse: The vial contained the only cure, the capacity to believe in love again.

Meanwhile, Priscilla's relationship with Mark implodes. Mark leaves after a confrontation, and Priscilla spirals, discovers she is pregnant, and calls her mother, who answers on the first ring. Priscilla cannot bring herself to be vulnerable and claims she is calling about paperwork. Thủy's secret meetings with Daniel end when Andy sees them together and leaves, telling Thủy she does not deserve him. Thảo, abandoned by Jeff, meets an older man with a British accent at a rooftop bar.

The family converges for Mai's wedding, which doubles as a reunion. Priscilla arrives visibly pregnant. Thủy brings Daniel as her date, and Elaine recognizes him as someone she also dated. Thảo's new boyfriend turns out to be Mark. Andy, secretly invited by Mai, arrives and tackles Mark, mistaking him for Daniel. Rosie Lương, Kim's younger daughter, and her cousin Christine pelt both men with fruit. Mrs. Phạm blurts out that she is dying, but Joyce Phạm, Mrs. Phạm's only daughter, drags her to the hospital, where the attending physician, Dr. Hak, diagnoses heartburn. Mrs. Phạm slips the vial's last drop into tea for Liam, a blunt Korean American man Joyce has been dating, after noticing how his presence calms her daughter.

Mai gathers her daughters at the beach house and makes amends. She gives Thủy her fake wedding rings, urging her to marry Andy. She gives Thảo keys to an office lease, asking her to come home. She gives Priscilla the deed to the house. When Priscilla finally accepts her mother's embrace, the coolness of Mai's jade bracelet against her skin confirms the apology is real.

At the wedding, Priscilla goes into early labor. Thủy proposes to Andy outside the hospital with her parents' fake rings; he reveals he already has one, chosen by Mai. Charlie Nguyễn is born healthy, with a birthmark identical to Mrs. Dương's. The aunties celebrate, assuming the baby is a boy, but the daughters know the truth: Charlie is a girl. Mai sees the birthmark, recognizes her mother's spirit, and looks at Priscilla holding her daughter with "the kind of hopefulness that had the potential to break curses" (231).

The novel circles back to reveal the curse was largely a performance. Oanh Dương had confronted the witch, who turns out to be kind and reveals that Oanh always wanted daughters. The witch introduces herself as Linh Hứa, the same psychic Mai visits in Kauai.

One year later, the family gathers for Charlie's first birthday. Thủy and Andy have eloped. Christine and Rosie have moved to Los Angeles. Charlie wears Mrs. Dương's jade necklace. Mai prays for her mother's spirit to join them, reasoning that among so many mothers, daughters, and sisters, there is enough energy to invite an ancestor home without a son's permission. Her jade bracelet briefly turns hot, then cool, and she knows it is all real. In an epilogue set 17 years later, Priscilla sits in the same Kauai waiting room where her mother once sat. The novel ends mid-sentence as Priscilla opens her mouth to ask about her daughters, leaving the cycle of Vietnamese mothers worrying about their daughters unresolved.