The Reeducation of Cherry Truong by Aimme Phan

American-born Cherry travels back to Vietnam to mend a broken relationship with her beloved brother Lum, who was banished there five years before when a gambling bet gone sour nearly cost Cherry her life. While reconnecting with her brother, she also discovers a dark family past: a history shielded in secrecy and coloured by war, betrayal and tragedy. A richly woven narrative, told from the perspectives of members of two close-knit clans, it reveals the many sides of a family story — and that nothing is ever quite as it appears. Like The Joy Luck Club, but juicier.

The Reeducation of Cherry Truong, Aimee Phan, $30.