The Fortunes of Jaded Women: A Novel

Written by Carolyn Huynh

Narrated by Vyvy Nguyen

For fans of Jonathan Tropper, Amy Tan, and Kevin Kwan, this “sharp, smart, and gloriously extra” (Nancy Jooyoun Kim, author of The Last Story of Mina Lee) novel follows a family of estranged Vietnamese women—cursed to never know love or happiness—as they reunite when a psychic makes a startling prediction.

Everyone in Orange County’s Little Saigon knew that the Duong sisters were cursed.

It started with their ancestor, Oanh, who dared to leave her marriage for true love—so a fearsome Vietnamese witch cursed Oanh and her descendants so that they would never find love or happiness, and the Duong women would only give birth to daughters.

Oanh’s current descendant Mai Nguyen knows this curse well. She’s divorced, and after an explosive disagreement a decade ago, estranged from her younger sisters, Minh Pham (the middle and the mediator) and Khuyen Lam (the youngest who swears she just runs humble coffee shops and nail salons, not Little Saigon’s underground). Though Mai’s three adult daughters, Priscilla, Thuy, and Thao, are successful in their careers (one of them is John Cho’s dermatologist!), the same can’t be said for their love lives. Mai is convinced they might drive her to an early grave.

Desperate for guidance, she consults Auntie Hua, her trusted psychic in Hawaii, who delivers an unexpected prediction: this year, her family will witness a marriage, a funeral, and the birth of a son. This prophecy will reunite estranged mothers, daughters, aunts, and cousins—for better or for worse.

A multi-narrative novel brimming with levity and candor, “The Fortunes of Jaded Women pulls off the magic trick of being a heartfelt, multi-generational epic as well as a fast-paced, hilarious romp. It is your good fortune to have this novel in your hands” (Camille Perri, author of When Katie Met Cassidy).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Sep 6, 2022
• ISBN: 9781797140544

Carolyn Huynh

Carolyn Huynh grew up in Orange County, California, not appreciating the weather enough. She has a BA in journalism from Seattle University and an MS in human centered design from the University of Washington. The youngest daughter of Vietnamese refugees, her writing focuses on her mother’s tall tales, superstitions, the diaspora, and memory (both real and imaginary). She especially loves stories about messy Asian women who never learn from their mistakes. After living up and down the West Coast, she currently resides in Los Angeles with her rabbit and dog. She still doesn’t appreciate the weather enough. When she’s not writing, Carolyn daydreams about having iced coffee on a rooftop in Saigon. Follow her on Twitter @CarolynKHuynh. 

Reviews for The Fortunes of Jaded Women

[Art Throng · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a beautiful story of three generations of Vietnamese women. An absolute delight!

[Lucia Garcia · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Mother - daughter relationships are always full of layers and nuances, and this book talks about a lot of them. Also relationships between sisters, cousins, aunts, and how all of them come together.
I enjoyed the point of view of the book from women relocated after the Vietnam war, it is not a a side we often see.
Overall it was a good book and I enjoyed it.

[Jas Badyal · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a beach read romance, light hearted story that's set around the complex interplay of Vietnamese identity, sexism, migration, and the complexity of relationships between mothers-daughters, and sisters.

The audiobook is narrated by Vyvy Nguyen who did a great job. It was a fun listen.

[Kaye · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This multigenerational family is biting, touching, and funny - sometimes all at once. I had so much fun listening to this.

[Constance Sahlmark · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very good! The way the story builds and comes to fruition is highly entertaining!!

[Beate Susanne Schmidt · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have liked not only the story, but also the poetry of it.

[Betty Bennett · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Very engaging story but hard to believe. The writing itself was well done. My concern is the over-the-top behavior of characters was so implausible that, if untrue, supports an anti-Asian bias.

[Imelda Fernandez · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I chose this book not knowing anything about it. I was engaged from page one. This book was so good. I could relate to many things they mentioned through the stories and different characters (even though I am not Vietnamese). I think if you grew up as a first-generation American, you will see a lot of similarities. It helps put things into perspective for our mothers and grandmothers. The journeys of each of these ladies were entertaining and full of drama. I loved it.

[Pamela Stewart · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

There were times when I got frustrated with the storyline of this book but in the end, I love the story about the mother and daughters and the transformation that occurred in this family.

[Leslie Hitchcock · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Did not enjoy this ready and the audio book in not right. It skips back to a further back chapter around chapter 21 or so and when I tried to go forward to find where it should have been it states “finished” and wouldn’t let me finish it.

[Becki Basley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

he Fortune of Jaded Women by Carolyn Huynh
(An audiobook read on Scribd)

This book was not what I thought and I thank Ms. Huynh for it!!

A long time ago, a woman chooses a man for love and got generations of her ancestors cursed. The Women would Never find love or happiness and they would only have daughters. Now we meet her descendants the Duong Women. They do not get along and Neither do their children.

When one of the sisters receives a prophecy from her psychic, there would be a death, a marriage, and a son born to the family, breaking the curse. What happens next is a very funny misadventure of a dysfunctional family back to each other.

Absolutely loved this book. Highly recommend it!

Would i buy it? Yes i Will