If you have ever been to a nail salon where the staff speaks another language, you will identify with Pick a Color. This short, easy to read, but profoundly intimate novel surprised the heck out of me. Here is my book review Pick a Color by Souvankham Thammavongsa.

The Susan’s

Ning owns a nail salon, but her clients think her name is Susan. In fact, every manicurist in the salon goes by the name Susan. It’s easy for the girls in the salon to be anonymous to the clients who come to be buffed and polished. Ning and the other Susan’s listen and agree to what the clients say, even when talking about the clients to each other in their own language.

Just Another Day

Pick a Color takes place over one day in the salon. Where we get to know Ning and her intellect and insecurities. A former boxer, Ning likes the rhythm of the salon, and spends her time shuffling memories and fears through her mind as she manages both her own clients and the rest of the Susans. Each of the other girls also managing their fears and trials of life as an immigrant.

The Immigrant Experience

Ning’s story, like so many others, is a daily grind of regret and hope, as she manages her expectations for her future, and processes the events of her past. Written in a fast-paced and intense dialogue, it’s an unusual setting with great characters who toll to the privileged clients who don’t even know their names.

****Four stars for Pick a Color by Souvankham Thammavongsa.

Thank you for reading my Book Review Pick a Color by Souvankham Thammavongsa. See last week Book Review Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout.

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