In Leila Vinnik’s upcoming novel, The Modest Ao Dai, Jamie Nguyen-Do is a Jewish-Vietnamese college student and aspiring writer. Jamie wants to write something true and authentic about the experiences of Jewish Asians like herself, a perspective she rarely sees. Looking for inspiration and community, she posts on Facebook looking for stories to tell.
On this writing project, Jamie meets Kochevet, Maya, and Kaori, all Jewish and Asian, and hears their stories. What starts as a creative writing project begins to take on a life of its own, as Jamie sees their stories intersect. It’s a culture story, but also a friendship story, as Jamie’s writing project unpacks choices, secrets, and misunderstandings.
Jamie’s perspective feels authentically YA throughout the novel. She’s 20, so she’s sure that all her peers are already published and she’s falling behind, with nothing to say. (She doesn’t know yet that a creative career is constantly noticing other people are getting better publishing deals, or more reviews, or better reviews, or more awards, or just more success.) It’s a very relatable insecurity, even if older readers might smile. The earnestness and the seriousness with which she takes her craft felt honest and realistic. This desire to write and to tell honest stories powers her meetings with the other characters, and encourages the other women to trust her with their private memories and experiences.
Jamie’s in a special situation as she hears each woman’s story and realizes how they connect. As she discovers more and gets more emotionally invested, she has to decide whether she wants to be an observer or become part of the relationships she’s documenting. Jamie thinks about her own friendship with her bestie Dina, as well as her own cultural experiences, as the other women discuss their families, friendships, and memories. This is solid YA fiction, and the cultural background adds a lot of interest. For me, parts of the novel felt very familiar (Passaic/Essex county vibes), which grounded the parts that were new to me.
The Modest Ao Dai isn’t really a novel built around a central conflict. The story is incited by Jamie posting a Facebook message asking for stories to share, and then the novel shares those stories and perspectives with the reader. This makes a fascinating read for everyone who picked up a novel about Jewish and Asian identity, but it’s more about personality and character than tension. Rather than asking what will happen next, this novel is more interested in asking how our characters feel and react, and then wider questions of how our backgrounds and memories shape our choices.
Readers looking for character-centered explorations of friendship and multicultural identity will enjoy The Modest Ao Dai.