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| Violet Kupersmith |
An extraordinarily compelling debut—ghost stories that grapple with the legacy of the Vietnam War
A beautiful young woman appears fully dressed in an overflowing bathtub at the Frangipani Hotel in Hanoi. A jaded teenage girl in Houston befriends an older Vietnamese gentleman she discovers naked behind a dumpster. A plump Vietnamese-American teenager is sent to her elderly grandmother in Ho Chi Minh City to lose weight, only to be lured out of the house by the wafting aroma of freshly baked bread. In these evocative and always surprising stories, the supernatural coexists with the mundane lives of characters who struggle against the burdens of the past.
Based on traditional Vietnamese folk tales told to Kupersmith by her grandmother, these fantastical, chilling, and thoroughly contemporary stories are a boldly original exploration of Vietnamese culture, addressing both the immigrant experience and the lives of those who remained behind. Lurking in the background of them all is a larger ghost—that of the Vietnam War, whose legacy continues to haunt us.
My Thoughts:
When I agreed to join the tour for this book I wasn’t sure what to expect. Vietnamese ghost stories with a modern twist? I was intrigued, to say the least.
I can’t tell you how pleased I am that I read this book. Every story was more alluring than the last. Every story was more surprising than the last. Just when I thought I had the twists figured out Kupersmith would astonish me again. The blend of supernatural tales and Vietnamese culture was haunting and lovely.
The stories in The Frangipani Hotel are both beautiful and eerie. This collection is not to be missed.
TLC Book Tours and Spiegel & Grau have been kind enough to offer a copy of The Frangipani Hotel for a giveaway to one reader from the United States. Good luck!
The Relentless Reader 
I love ghost stories and this book sounds fantastic. I can't wait until I'm finished with my current round of books because I haven't been giving short stories enough attention and I miss reading collections.Tanya PatriceGirlxoxo.com
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My relatives are from Vietnam, but I'm fully Westernized like many of the characters in this book. So it was a lot of fun to read folk-type stories that were modernized. Did you have a favourite story? Overall, I liked the story about the banh mi sandwiches the best, but there were quite a few creepy stories.
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Ghost stories are unforgettable and fascinating. Thanks for this wonderful giveaway. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com
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I think you'd really enjoy this one, Tanya. It's a wonderful collection!
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Oooh, it's hard to pick a favorite! I think the one with the bathtub girl was mine…so spooky!
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Indeed they are! 😀
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Vietnamese culture? I'm in!
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I'm a big fan of reading about other cultures as well, Heidi. I really wish I was better at pronouncing words from other cultures though!
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That sounds a great mix, and the stories seem quite random, at least almost. I like it 🙂
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They are completely unpredictable as well. Very, very cool 😀
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What a beautiful cover! And the story sounds really interesting. 🙂
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I do like ghost stories, but that sort of thing in a book doesn't usually grab me. However, I've heard a lot of good things about this one! 🙂
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I'll admit that ghost stories kind of freak me out, but I like them I've heard so many good things about this book!
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It is pretty, isn't it? And a little spooky…just like the book!
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If someone came up and asked me if I liked ghost stories my first reaction would be to say, \”meh\” But I have to rethink that because I really liked these stories 😀
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OohoohhoOOoohh 😉 That's my spooky background music, lol. If you can stand to be just a little scared you'll like this collection.
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I'm glad you ended up enjoying this so much! I love when an author is able to surprise me 🙂
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You and me both! You'd think that after reading so many books I'd know all the tricks, lol. Nope!
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I have my eye on The Frangipani Hotel, I've heard good things.
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I sure love a good ghost story! I can't wait to pick this one up!
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I hope you get your hands on a copy. Maybe you'll win this one? 😀 It'll send chills up your spine!
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I'm glad to hear it! I wouldn't have said that I really like ghost stories. Turns out that I do! I love finding out new things about myself 😀
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I've heard so many great things about this collection! I'm so glad you enjoyed it.Thanks for being on the tour. I'm featuring your review on TLC's Facebook page today.
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Thanks for having me! It was a great read 😀
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Everybody seems to love this one. I want to see what the hype is all about!
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I've seen so many good reviews and seeing that I'm getting into short story collections, this doesn't sound too bad.
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Even though these stories had the modern twists, I really felt the history of Vietnam seeping into all of the stories. What a great collection.
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I have a little bit of cover love for this book, which means I will probably read it 🙂
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