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A beguilingly original Southern gothic family novel with a sharp and minty twist, by an acclaimed writer with a sensual, surprising imagination and a compelling way with words

About the Author

Monique Truong was born in Vietnam and moved to the USA in 1975 as a child, shortly before the fall of Saigon. Her first novel, The Book of Salt, was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award, was a New York Times Notable Book and was critically acclaimed ( 'a rich, poetic feast' Guardian; 'a tart delight' Scotland on Sunday; 'recalls Ishiguro or Pat Barker' The Times; 'highly original' Spectator). She lives in New York.

Reviews

A mouthwateringly delicious read; it also snaps with irresistible wit. This could have remained a slender coming-of-age tale. In fact, it develops into one of real substance
*Daily Mail*

Family secrets, first love and teen betrayals all make up the novel's classic menu
*Independent*

Piercingly eloquent...richly drawn characters...captivating pace
*New York Times*

Southern cadences resonate, imbuing Bitter In The Mouth with a warmth and wit that form a perfect foil for the Southern gothic undercurrents that propel it towards its gorgeous, heart-warming resolution
*Herald*

A revelation of wit and heart and stunning talent. Truong shades her classic coming of age tale with a magical ferocity that recalls Doctorow and Nabokov....a soulful hymn to the hands we fashion with the cards we're dealt
*Jayne Anne Phillips*

Truong's pen is a scalpel, laying perfect words down along that nerve until even the happiest reader understands what it means to forever stand apart from your family and the larger society you inhabit...The novel's end is neither bitter nor sweet, but the perfect combination of both
*Los Angeles Times*

If you liked The Shaking Woman by Siri Hustvedt, you'll love Bitter in the Mouth by Monique Truong... a tale of friendship, loyalty, love, family, and above all, the mysteries that make us who we are
*Tatler*

With a heroine who literally eats words, Truong is amply aware of the power of them... she wields her narrative like a quarterstaff, knocking readers' expectations right out from under them
*Washington Post*

Monique Truong creates a world so subtle, mysterious, moving and sensory that it heightens our consciousness of those qualities in our own. Bitter in the Mouth is the rare novel that makes one life story unique and universal at the same time
*Gloria Steinem*

Be prepared for a full range of tastes of life in Bitter in the Mouth: friendship, loyalty, love, family, and above all, the mysteries at every corner of one's history that make us who we are. Monique Truong is a great observer and a beautiful writer
*Yiyun Li*