★ A Canada Reads 2024 Longlist Selection ★
★ Named a Best Books of 2023 by NPR and CBC ★

Book cover for 'Sunshine Nails' by Mai Nguyen. The cover features a woman with platinum blonde hair, wearing purple sunglasses, red lipstick, and a pink shirt, holding a nail polish brush with pink nails. The background has a yellow swirl pattern, and there is text highlighting a quote and awards.
Book cover for "Sunshine Nails" by Mai Nguyen. The cover features a bright yellow background with a large sun illustration shining behind the title. The title is written in pink, bold, distressed font. Above, there is a quote that says "Mai Nguyen has proven herself to be a real standout" by Taylor Jenkins Reid. The subtitle poses a question, "Save the family? Or save the family business?" At the bottom, there is an illustration of five people holding hands, seen from the back, against the sunburst background.
ORDER NOW (US)
ORDER NOW (CANADA)

A tender, humorous, and page-turning debut about a Vietnamese Canadian family in Toronto who will do whatever it takes to protect their no-frills nail salon after a new high end salon opens up—even if it tears the family apart. Perfect for readers of Olga Dies Dreaming and The Fortunes of Jaded Women.

Vietnamese refugees Debbie and Phil Tran have built a comfortable life for themselves in Toronto with their family nail salon. But when an ultra-glam chain salon opens across the street, their world is rocked.

Complicating matters further, their landlord has jacked up the rent and it seems only a matter of time before they lose their business and everything they’ve built. They enlist the help of their daughter, Jessica, who has just returned home after a messy breakup and a messier firing. Together with their son, Dustin, and niece, Thuy, they devise some good old-fashioned sabotage. Relationships are put to the test as the line between right and wrong gets blurred. Debbie and Phil must choose: do they keep their family intact or fight for their salon?

Sunshine Nails is a light-hearted, urgent fable of gentrification with a cast of memorable and complex characters who showcase the diversity of immigrant experiences and community resilience.

Praise for Sunshine Nails

“Filled with heart and humor, Sunshine Nails is an insightful, moving story with striking depth, taking on gentrification, family expectations, and generational differences. You will be rooting for the Tran family through every risk and sacrifice they make to save their salon, and ultimately themselves. Mai Nguyen has proven herself to be a real standout.”

—Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

“Sunshine Nails is a phenomenal debut from Mai Nguyen. This page-turning story about the Tran family’s desperate attempts to keep their nail salon in business will have you rooting for them as often as you shake your head. It’s a delightful romp, with keen social commentary and writing that simply sparkles. Put it on your summer reading list ASAP!”

—Carley Fortune, New York Times bestselling author of Every Summer After

“A whip-smart and hilarious David versus Goliath romp. The Tran family will have you biting your nails as they claw at their competition and each other. Will they survive? Or will they lie forever in the proverbial nail bed that they made? But the Vietnamese diaspora will always find their way back home—even if they lose an eyelash or two along the way.”

—Carolyn Huynh, author of The Fortunes of Jaded Women

“Sunshine Nails manages to be lighthearted and funny while it also shrewdly addresses complex topics, like gentrification and anti-Asian racism. I loved the Tran family and their bright, compelling story.”

—Emily Austin, author of Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead