A soulful first novel by the award-winning poet and short story writer Souvankham Thammavongsa, Pick a Color follows the enigmatic proprietor of a nail salon over the course of an eventful summer day. It is a skillful, witty portrait of a woman composed of intriguing contradictions, the cracks in her hard outer shell exposing depths her clients will never know.
Ning is the astute, dry-humored narrator and the owner of "Susan's." A former boxer in her early 40s, she projects a wary detachment and sizes people up as if they are potential competitors in the ring. In fact, she is soft-hearted and sensitive, eager to be included but unwilling to expose her vulnerabilities. Thammavongsa (How to Pronounce Knife) is marvelously adept at showcasing her protagonist's almost pathological need for control and the dark, swirling mysteries of her troubled past.
A Laotian Canadian writer, Thammavongsa takes an experience readers may be familiar with as customers and invites them to view it from an entirely different perspective. It is a delight to immerse oneself in the everyday drama of the salon's "brightly lit box" with the rhythmic cadence of Thammavongsa's storytelling and the narrative spaces she creates for readers' imaginations to ignite.
There is no dramatic ending here but Ning's day, as it comes to a close, is full of quiet victories. People who get their nails done are "hopeful," she observes, because they think they can change their lives for the better. One can say the same for Ning--the salon is her proof of a solid future, a buffer against the terrifying impermanence of life. --Shahina Piyarali