{"product_id":"the-girl-before-her-9781885030832","title":"The Girl Before Her","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA coming-of-age tale of dislocation and inherited trauma from the acclaimed young French Vietnamese novelist\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis autofictional novel marks the stunning English-language debut of award-winning French Vietnamese writer Line Papin. Told in three parts, \u003ci\u003eThe Girl Before Her\u003c\/i\u003e moves from a small farming village in Vietnam to France and back again to tell the story of three generations of women as they confront themselves and one another through war, marriage and immigration. The novel's narrator, the child of a French father and a Vietnamese mother, finds herself uprooted and adrift after she moves from the sunshine and chaos of Hanoi, where she was born, to the gray, cold worlds of Toulouse and Paris. This unexpected, unexplained rupturing of her childhood world causes a painful rift in her sense of self--one that ultimately leads to her being hospitalized for anorexia.\u003cbr\u003eGripped by a deep sense of uncertainty about who she is and where she belongs, she becomes preoccupied with understanding what persists--both in the body and in memory--regardless of where one lives or what languages one speaks. Written in a spare, poetic style, this meditation on the urgency of finding a place for oneself in the world is a passionate argument for the self-forgiveness that can only come from a deep examination of oneself. It has been described by \u003ci\u003eMadame Figaro\u003c\/i\u003e as \"inflected with the flares of Marguerite Duras.\" \u003ci\u003eThe Girl Before Her\u003c\/i\u003e is the first book to be published by Ink and Blood, a new imprint from Kaya Press and the Diasporic Vietnamese Artist Network, dedicated to bringing Diasporic Vietnamese literary voices to English readers.\u003cbr\u003eBorn in Vietnam and based in Paris, \u003cb\u003eLine Papin\u003c\/b\u003e (born 1995) is the author of five novels: \u003ci\u003eUne vie possible\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eL'Éveil\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eToni\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eLe Os des filles\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eLe Coeur en laisse\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003ci\u003eThe Girl Before Her\u003c\/i\u003e is the English translation of \u003ci\u003eLe Os des filles\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Kaya Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/28\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781885030832\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 132","brand":"Line Papin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42720878297269,"sku":"9781885030832","price":16.11,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_b653785d-45b5-4930-9cbd-5716270ba1f7.jpg?v=1675180407","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-girl-before-her-9781885030832","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}