**** Short Girls by Bich Minh Nguyen (2009, Viking Penguin, 304 pages)

I picked this pick up while I was stocking up at a book sale.  The author’s name was familiar because her first book, a memoir entitled Stealing Buddha’s Dinner, had won so many accolades.   I hadn’t heard much about this novel but perhaps I was too buried at work to notice the buzz it well deserves.   

Short Girls tells the tales of two sisters, one at the end of her marriage and the other involved with a married man, who couldn’t be more different.  One is conservative about her approach to love, life and work, the other carefree with respect to all three.  The only tie that seems to bind them, it seems, is their widowed father.  If it weren’t for him, they probably wouldn’t even chat.   The sisters happen to be Vietnamese and happen to be short.   

Their dad is a kooky inventor who lives in the same house the sisters grew up in with their mother.  The story is so entertaining because it tells the tale of real relationships – a father you’re obliged to see, a sister you no longer have anything in common with, a husband who has suddenly decided you’re not the one.  And while at times depressing, it does offer hope that even when things don’t seem to go your way, you can still salvage something from a mess.   

Definitely worth reading if you’re looking for a break from the sugary floss that chick lit can fall victim to.