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The Family Recipe

A Novel

LIST PRICE ₹855.00

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About The Book

From the author of the “sharp, smart, and gloriously extra” (Nancy Jooyoun Kim, New York Times bestselling author) Good Morning America Book Club Pick The Fortunes of Jaded Women, a stunning family dramedy about estranged siblings competing to inherit their father’s Vietnamese sandwich franchise and unravel family mysteries.

Duc Tran, the eccentric founder of the Vietnamese sandwich chain Duc’s Sandwiches, has decided to retire. No one has heard from his wife, Evelyn, in two decades. She abandoned the family without a trace, and clearly doesn’t want anything to do with Duc, the business, or their kids. But the money has to go to someone. With the help of the shady family lawyer, Duc informs his five estranged adult children that to receive their inheritance, his four daughters must revitalize run-down shops in old-school Little Saigon locations across America: Houston, San Jose, New Orleans, and Philadelphia—within a year. But if the first-born (and only) son, Jude, gets married first, everything will go to him.

Each daughter is stuck in a new city, battling gentrification, declining ethnic enclaves, and messy love lives, while struggling to modernize their father’s American dream. Jude wonders if he wants to marry for love or for money—or neither. As Duc’s children scramble to win their inheritance, they begin to learn the real intention behind the inheritance scheme—and the secret their mother kept tucked away in the old fishing tackle box, all along.

The Family Recipe is about rediscovering one’s roots, different types of fatherly love, legacy, and finding a place in a divided country where the only commonality among your neighbors is the universal love of sandwiches.

About The Author

May Xiong

Carolyn Huynh loves writing about messy Asian women who never learn from their mistakes. Her debut book, The Fortunes of Jaded Women was a Good Morning America book club pick and is being adapted for television by Heyday Studios and Universal. Her sophomore book, The Family Recipe, comes out in 2025. When she’s not writing, Carolyn daydreams about having iced coffee on a rooftop in Ho Chi Minh City.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Atria Books (April 1, 2025)
  • Length: 320 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781668033067

Raves and Reviews

"This story about bickering Vietnamese American siblings and their secretive elders is a funny yet poignant tale of one family's search for belonging and understanding."—Charmaine Wilkerson, New York Times bestselling author of Black Cake

"The Family Recipe is a page-turning delight. Filled with multi-generational family drama, memorable characters, and delicious food, Huynh's latest is a timely, globe-trotting literary feast you won't want to end."—J. Ryan Stradal, New York Times bestselling author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest

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More books from this author: Carolyn Huynh