Pick a Colour
The electrifying new novel from the author of How to Pronounce Knife
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Pick a Colour
Lu par :
Zoe Doyle
Acheter pour 14,99 €
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Lu par :
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Zoe Doyle
From Giller Prize and O. Henry Award winner Souvankham Thammavongsa comes a revelatory novel about loneliness, love, labor, and class.
'I live in a world of Susans. I got name tags for everyone who works at this nail salon, and on every one is printed the name "Susan".'
‘One of the greatest novels I have ever read’ RITA BULWINKELL
‘Wickedly funny and moving’ AVNI DOSHI
‘A knockout: every punch lands’ ELEANOR CATTON
Ning is a retired boxer, but to the customers who visit her nail salon, she is just another worker named Susan. On this summer's day, much like any other, the Susans buff and clip and polish and tweeze. They listen and smile and nod. But beneath this superficial veneer, Ning is a woman of rigorous intellect and profound depth. A woman enthralled by the intricacy and rhythms of her work, but also haunted by memories of paths not taken and opportunities lost. A woman navigating the complicated power dynamics among her fellow Susans, whose greatest fears and desires lie just behind the gossip they exchange.
As the day's work grinds on, the friction between Ning's two identities – as anonymous manicurist and brilliant observer of her own circumstances – will gather electric and crackling force, and at last demand a reckoning with the way the world of privilege looks at a woman like Ning.
Told over a single day with razor-sharp precision and wit, Pick a Colour confirms Souvankham Thammavongsa's place as literature's premier chronicler of the immigrant experience, in its myriad, complex, and slyly subversive forms.
'Hauntingly good' ED PARK
‘Subverts the comforting mundane’ PITCHAYA SUDBANTHAD
‘A master over the sentence’ DAISY JOHNSON
Reader Reviews:
'Unlike anything I've read before, a talent to watch' (5-star review)
'The prose was liquid gold' (5-star review)
'I was devastated to finish it so soon' (5-star review)©2025 Souvankham Thammavongsa (P)2025 Penguin Random House Canada
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Commentaires
This impressive novel shows how war, colonialism and migration play out in a small room where everyone’s name tag says Susan . . . There are developing moments of sympathy and even affection . . . and beautifully understated sadness . . . Highly crafted, layered and clever (Sarah Moss)
Exceptional . . . A compact novel which prioritises atmosphere . . . The vibes are as immaculate as the manicures provided within . . . Outlines the ordinary in incandescent detail . . . A ferocity bubbles underneath the story’s sleek surface . . . In these subtle societal observations, the novel reads as quietly revolutionary, and its well-crafted characters and impeccable prose distinguish Thammavongsa as a particularly thrilling talent . . . A winner of numerous awards, this work suggests further high-profile accolades in her future . . . She is one to watch, and this debut is a certifiable knockout (Laura Cassidy)
Bitey . . . Lets us into the secret yet ubiquitous world of nail salons, skilfully opening up the experience of those who work there . . . Thammavongsa captures the role of beauty salons as modern confessionals . . . There’s darkness laced into the mundane comings and goings . . . Richly observational, this us-versus-them tale illuminates a rarely seen slice of life (Ceci Browning)
A taut, tricksy novel . . . A feat of economy . . . Thammavongsa treats us to a buffet of minor characters … The author’s strategy is subtle but assured . . . Punches above its weight. Thammavongsa’s minimalism conveys a range of tones and psychological nuances as she grapples with the stubborn prejudices of class. She feints like a prize fighter, tipping in clues to her protagonist’s past . . . Pick a Colour expands beyond the frame of a character study, but on its own terms, beholden to no reader’s expectation . . . Wily and caustic, the book condemns petty Western narcissisms yet allows for bursts of radiance (Hamilton Cain)
Tender and funny . . . With a poet’s power to help us see anew, Thammavongsa illuminates the humour and joy of this workaday life, exchanging class clichés for the glow of dignity and the human mystery (Michael LaPointe)
The author of the short-story collection How to Pronounce Knife returns with a knockout first novel . . . Thammavongsa’s minimalism draws a cutting distinction between her savvy characters and the vapid customers who seek manicures, pedicures and facials, flipping scripts on race and class supremacy. The Susans speak truths in a tight, beautiful narrative, striking with a cobra’s coiled energy (Hamilton Cain)
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