Starting over can be both daunting and exhilirating, a journey that requires courage, resilience — and sometimes, immense drive and desperation.
Such is the main theme of Huế City, the new contemporary fiction novel by Claire Betita de Guzman, set for release by Penguin Random House SEA end of this month. Huế City tells the story of Carmen, Hai, and Marina — three down-and-out characters desperate for a second chance, whose paths cross in Huế City, Vietnam’s ancient capital. Carmen is a former gang member searching for her mother, Hai wants to be rich and own his own hotel, while wealthy Marina yearns for real, long-term love.
Huế City is the sixth novel of Singapore-based Filipina author Claire Betita de Guzman. Her previous books include No Boyfriend Since Birth and Sudden Superstar, a two-time bestseller in The Straits Times.
A multi-POV novel, Huế City brings you deep into the soul of Southeast Asia — from the faded, enigmatic streets of Vietnam’s former capital Huế to the fraught, gritty drags of Manila and the gleaming, cosmopolitan environs of Singapore — as it reveals their intertwined journeys along the treacherous and sometimes heartbreaking path to starting over.
Available for preorder at Kinokuniya Singapore, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.
Add ‘Hue City’ on Goodreads