Banyan Moon

by Thao Thai

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Banyan Moon is a gorgeous, binge-worthy novel about three generations of Vietnamese women. A nuanced portrait of mother-daughter relationships, you won't soon forget Minh, Huong and Ann.

A TODAY Show #ReadWithJenna Book Club Pick

"A riveting mother-daughter tale." — Elle

"Radiant. … An intimate account of one family’s planting of roots in American soil and the sacrifices great and small that each member makes along the way.” — Washington Post

A sweeping, evocative debut novel following three generations of Vietnamese American women reeling from the death of their matriarch, revealing the family’s inherited burdens, buried secrets, and unlikely love stories. 

When Ann Tran gets the call that her fiercely beloved grandmother, Minh, has passed away, her life is already at a crossroads. In the years since she’s last seen Minh, Ann has built a seemingly perfect life—a beautiful lake house, a charming professor boyfriend, and invites to elegant parties that bubble over with champagne and good taste—but it all crumbles with one positive pregnancy test. With both her relationship and carefully planned future now in question, Ann returns home to Florida to face her estranged mother, Huơng.

Back in Florida, Huơng is simultaneously mourning her mother and resenting her for having the relationship with Ann that she never did. Then Ann and Huơng learn that Minh has left them both the Banyan House, the crumbling old manor that was Ann’s childhood home, in all its strange, Gothic glory. Under the same roof for the first time in years, mother and daughter must face the simmering questions of their past and their uncertain futures, while trying to rebuild their relationship without the one person who’s always held them together.

Running parallel to this is Minh’s story, as she goes from a lovestruck teenager living in the shadow of the Vietnam War to a determined young mother immigrating to America in search of a better life for her children. And when Ann makes a shocking discovery in the Banyan House’s attic, long-buried secrets come to light as it becomes clear how decisions Minh made in her youth affected the rest of her life—and beyond.

Spanning decades and continents, from 1960s Vietnam to the wild swamplands of the Florida coast, Banyan Moon is a stunning and deeply moving story of mothers and daughters, the things we inherit, and the lives we choose to make out of that inheritance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063267107
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	06/27/2023
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	8,332
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Thao Thai is a writer living in Ohio with her husband and daughter. Her work engages with tangled family relationships and the intersections of motherhood and identity. She’s been published in Cup of Jo, Eater, Catapult, Sunday Long Read, and more. A recipient of the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, she has also been nominated for multiple Pushcart Prizes and earned fellowships in creative writing. She received her MFA from The Ohio State University and her MA from The University of Chicago. 

Editorial Reviews

04/10/2023

Thai debuts with an accomplished story of a Vietnamese American family’s complex relationships and pressing mysteries. Ann Tran, a professional illustrator living in Michigan with her wealthy boyfriend, Noah Winthorpe, has been called home by her mother, Hư ơ ng, to the family’s Banyan House on Florida’s Gulf Coast, where her grandmother Minh has died. Ann’s life is in disarray; she’s pregnant and unsure about her relationship with Noah, who has been cheating on her. Minh had known what it was like to be a single mother facing uncertainty. She left her native Vietnam in 1973 to honor her late husband’s dying wish that she protect their children. Hương, meanwhile, who always longed for an intact family, guards Ann from the truth of why Ann grew up without her own father. Now, as inheritors of the Banyan House, the two women have a chance to repair their relationship, and they decide to live there together until Ann’s baby is born. Still, Hương worries Ann will find evidence in the house of what happened to her father. In an emotional conclusion, Thai satisfyingly settles the question of whether total honesty is necessary to sustain loving connections between mothers and daughters. There’s no shortage of multigenerational family narratives out there, and this one really stands out from the pack. Agent: Abigail Walters, CAA. (June)

Publishers Weekly

★ 03/01/2023

DEBUT Thai, who has written for publications as diverse as the Los Angeles Review of Books and Eater, presents a compelling look at three generations of women, from 1960s Vietnam to modern-day Florida. Successful Michigan-based artist Ann Tran has always felt a stronger connection to her grandmother Minh than to her mother, Huong. But when Minh dies and leaves Banyan House, the decaying home where Ann grew up, to Ann and her mother, Ann begins to question her beloved grandmother's motives, lies, and nastiness to others. The novel's three viewpoints and constantly changing time periods require some worthwhile concentration. Evocative descriptions of each locale add atmosphere and realism. Scenes of life during the Vietnam War add insight, and cameo appearances by the family's deceased men are surprisingly moving and provide additional glimpses into the women's lives. Though flawed and secretive, each woman is endlessly fascinating. Ann's unexpected pregnancy will unlock many "mysteries," keeping readers fascinated even if doubtful about her choices. VERDICT Readers who savor many unexpected twists and a surprising conclusion will be rewarded.—Susan G. Baird

Library Journal

2023-03-28
Long-held secrets haunt the lives of three generations of Vietnamese women.

Ann Tran, an illustrator who lives in Michigan with her boyfriend, Noah Winthorpe, a college professor from a wealthy White family of country clubbers, gradually becomes aware of the disconnect between the life she thought she wanted with Noah and the life she actually would have chosen on her own. The realization is prompted by an unplanned pregnancy, but Ann takes time to think things over once she returns “home” to the Gulf Coast of Florida to mourn the death of her beloved and revered grandmother Minh, who had fled Vietnam as a single mother with her children during the “American War.” Ann and her mother, Hương, who have long been at odds, must grapple with creating a relationship in the absence of Minh’s overwhelming influence. Hương raised Ann as a single mother—though Ann was closer to her grandmother—and never told her the identity of her father. In the shadow of Minh’s death, the two women move into the sprawling but deteriorated Gothic mansion—the Banyan House—they have jointly inherited and work to overcome the legacy of lies and misunderstandings that has permeated their family for generations. As Ann seeks to form a plan for her future, she becomes aware of complicated truths about her grandmother’s life through explorations of the jam-packed rooms of the Banyan House and candid revelations from her high school friends about the woman she thought she knew so well. Thai deftly dissects the touchiness of strained mother-daughter relationships in a surprise-filled narrative that ranges from 1960s Vietnam to present-day Florida.

Thai has created three strong, unique women determined to find their own paths despite daunting circumstances.

Kirkus Reviews

"I loved it. ... You will sit down and finish this in one reading!" — Jenna Bush Hager

"A riveting mother-daughter tale spanning two different timelines, and anchored by the magnetic pull of a Gothic home known as the Banyan House, Banyan Moon is author Thao Thai’s beautiful debut." — Elle

“Pleasurably atmospheric...Banyan Moon is strongest when exploring the unique blend of contempt and fury that can exist between mothers and daughters...The story’s maneuvering through time and space provides a roundness to the Tran women, allowing readers to see aspects of, and similarities between, each character that they keep from one another....Banyan Moon urges readers to consider whether it is best for some truths to remain hidden—whether deceit can ultimately be an act of love.” — New York Times Book Review

“Poetic, often radiant. … An intimate account of one family’s planting of roots in American soil and the sacrifices great and small that each member makes along the way.” — Washington Post

"Spanning decades and continents, vignettes of a teenage Minh's life in 1960s Vietnam add vibrant strokes to a searing portrait of mothers and daughters." — Entertainment Weekly

"A compelling look at three generations of women, from 1960s Vietnam to modern-day Florida. ... Readers who savor many unexpected twists and a surprising conclusion will be rewarded." — Library Journal (starred review)

"[A] rich novel of inheritance and generational divides." — Vanity Fair

“A beautifully written, page-turning novel that explores the traumatic legacy of war, the complexity of cultural assimilation, and the intimacy of family conflict with fierce grace and psychological acuity. Banyan Moon is a celebration of life in all its forms and a joy to read.” — Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Exiles

"Heart-shatteringly beautiful. Banyan Moon is a love letter to keepers of secrets, to motherhood, family and survival. Thao Thai is a major talent whose exciting, impressive, and poetic prose will grow into you, like a strong and lush banyan tree deeply rooted in the rich Vietnamese literary heritage." — Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, internationally bestselling author of The Mountains Sing and Dust Child

"Well worth reading." — Vogue

"Haunting, a little spooky and occasionally heartbreaking, this sweeping debut novel follows three generations of Vietnamese women as they try to find their way in the world." — Good Housekeeping

"Tender, gripping and heartbreaking. A haunting page turner that reexamines lineage, motherhood, and what it means to be a survivor -- in every definition of the word. A welcome debut from a stunning voice who will forever impact the Vietnamese American canon." — Carolyn Huynh, author of The Fortunes of Jaded Women

"Banyan Moon offers an honest and aching exploration of the gulf between generations—how we misunderstand those we love the most, the unintentional hurt we cause them, how we struggle to find the language to connect. But it’s also a novel of hope, a story of forgiveness, a reminder that even though we can never fully know the people closest to us, it is worth the try." — Tracey Lien, internationally bestselling author of All That’s Left Unsaid

"Banyan Moon is an intricately woven story of three generations of women, surviving and living each in their own way. This novel has everything you want: desire, betrayal, grit, tenderness, pride, love, and--most deliciously, most brazenly--the dirty secrets and sacred secrets we make and keep to protect what we hold dear." — Meng Jin, author of Little Gods and Self-Portrait with Ghost

"Thao Thai captures the complexities of familial love with an unflinching, yet gorgeously lyric, eye. Banyan Moon is an ambitious and masterful debut!" — Stacey Swann, author of Olympus, Texas

"Thao Thai pierces the veil between the living and the dead in this haunted and beautifully rendered debut. This is a story about mothers and daughters, the chasm where misunderstandings accrue, and enduring tenderness despite the little hurts we may inflict on our loved ones. Most affectingly, Thai gives us characters who mourn lost origins, but who still get to decide what home looks like. A spellbinding and intricately layered story, Banyan Moon celebrates Vietnamese women." — E.M. Tran, author of Daughters of the New Year

"Mother-daughter relationships are inexplicably complex. Thao Thai’s debut novel, Banyan Moon, explores this in a way that few books (or people) do. ... A deeply poignant exploration of motherhood and womanhood." — Observer

"An accomplished story of a Vietnamese American family’s complex relationships and pressing mysteries. ... There’s no shortage of multigenerational family narratives out there, and this one really stands out from the pack." — Publishers Weekly

"Heartwarming. ... Thai’s writing is lovely and engaging as she explores grief, trauma, and the binding power of familial love." — Booklist

"Thai deftly dissects the touchiness of strained mother-daughter relationships in a surprise-filled narrative that ranges from 1960s Vietnam to present-day Florida. Thai has created three strong, unique women determined to find their own paths despite daunting circumstances." — Kirkus Reviews

"A sweeping, multifaceted story of legacy, grief and, above all, love — especially the kind that doesn’t look the way you expect. ... Banyan Moon reads like an instant classic that no doubt will be passed from mother to daughter and beyond. This perfect book club read will stick with you for a very long time." — Bookreporter.com

"Powerful." — Reader's Digest

"Through a rich exploration of mother-daughter relationships and the complexities of inheritance, Banyan Moon weaves together a poignant tale set across different time periods and locations. Recommended for fans of Burnt Sugar and The Joy Luck Club." — The Messenger

"The complex dynamic between the women in Thao Thai’s Banyan Moon—grandmother, mother, and daughter— is so realistic, you’d swear the novel was a memoir." — Real Simple

"The characters are well-drawn and mysterious, and, as each chapter unfolds, their secrets become more engaging. ... With elements of magical realism and the Southern Gothic in a multiple narrator format, Banyan Moon provides a reading experience that is both familiar and inventive, making it perfect for summer reading. Many different readers will find points of interest in the Tran women and their stories, and the mysterious moments will generate plenty of discussion among the book clubs who are sure to take up this novel." — Southern Review of Books

"A true joy to read. ... Perfect for fans of Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club. ... Incredibly absorbing." — Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star

From the Publisher

A riveting mother-daughter tale.”

Elle

Vignettes of a teenage Minh’s life in 1960s Vietnam add vibrant strokes to a searing portrait of mothers and daughters.”

Entertainment Weekly

A celebration of life in all its forms and a joy to read.”

New York Times bestselling author Christina Baker Kline