The Manicurist's Daughter

Susan Lieu reconstructs her family’s history following the death of her mother, Phuong Tu, who died due to medical malpractice during an elective plastic surgery. Growing up in the shadow of this silence, Lieu investigates the botched procedure while navigating the cultural landscape of the California nail salon industry. The narrative follows her search for accountability and her efforts to bridge the gap between her identity as a first-generation Vietnamese American and her family’s refugee past. She details the technical realities of the malpractice lawsuit, her attempts to contact her mother’s spirit through mediums, and the complicated dynamics of grief within a family that avoided discussing the tragedy for decades.

Readers interested in the logistics of familial grief and the specific pressures of the immigrant experience find a case study in how trauma shapes physical and emotional inheritance. The book appeals to those looking for a factual account of how a medical error alters the trajectory of a lineage and how a daughter can reclaim a relationship with a parent she barely knew. Readers walk away with a perspective on the intersection of the beauty industry, the American legal system, and the preservation of ancestral memory.