Author: Ocean Vuong
Year published: 2025
Category: Adult fiction
Pages: 416 pages
Rating: 5 out of 5
Location: (my 2025 Google Reading map): USA (CT)
Summary: The hardest thing in the world is to live only once…
One late summer evening in the post-industrial town of East Gladness, Connecticut, nineteen-year-old Hai stands on the edge of a bridge in pelting rain, ready to jump, when he hears someone shout across the river. The voice belongs to Grazina, an elderly widow succumbing to dementia, who convinces him to take another path. Bereft and out of options, he quickly becomes her caretaker. Over the course of the year, the unlikely pair develops a life-altering bond, one built on empathy, spiritual reckoning, and heartbreak, with the power to transform Hai’s relationship to himself, his family, and a community on the brink.
Review: Friends and I bought tickets to hear Ocean Vuong speak in December, so I figured that I should read his book! The narrator was really good at doing the voices of all the characters, so it made listening easy and I could clearly keep track of who was speaking.
This novel is beautifully written with phrases that create perfect visuals of the people, the setting, and the events. There is also language that is evocative of action that made me smile (example: I was mad enough to hit a toddler).
The characters are people whom I wanted to succeed and be okay. They are just trying to get through the day, week, and month. They want to do better for themselves and those around them, but circumstances are not in their favor. Vuong does an excellent job of showing how found family can be so meaningful and the impact we can have on others, especially when the characters all seem to be living on the margins. Things always go slightly wrong, but they are there for one another no matter what.
The relationship between Hai and Grazina is especially poignant. Hai is so tender and understanding with her as she slips in and out of her dementia. And she is as good for him as he is for her.
Challenges for which this counts:
- Alphabet (Author)--V
- Bookish--the main character is an avid reader, and books help him escape from reality
- Diversity--Most characters are not white
- Literary Escapes--Connecticut
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