Making A Whore

From the highly controversial writer, reporter, and satirist Vũ Trọng Phụng, Making a Whore is an exposé of the so-called progressive 'Westernised' ideals of sexuality in 1930s colonial Vietnam.

The novel follows the life of Huyền, a young woman born into Hà Nội’s upper-class, whose innocent interest in her mother’s pregnancy is casually ‘You’ll find out when you get married’. Lacking sexual education from her family, Huyền turns to her peers for answers, opening up a world of childish whispers about physical pleasure.

As polite society demands Huyền to remain virtuous, she enters into adulthood with both the will to know and the will to suppress a young woman’s burning physical desires. The torments of her sexual frustration spiral Huyền into a life of debauchery; one she might not ever want to turn back from.

‘A classic work of Vietnamese literature. Heartshattering, thought-provoking and unforgettable.’ —Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, author of Dust Child

‘Making a Whore is an immediate and sharply observed modernist text. While Vũ Trọng Phụng’s prolific yet short-lived output of work was once considered obscene and outrageous, Making a Whore is an absolutely vital text that looks to the future by questioning the teachings of governance; the failings of the health, marriage and education systems, and how society shames young women and curious minds. Not only that, it is also a heartfelt treatise on a person’s capacity for love and desire, and the systems in place that restrict them.’ —Joshua Jones, author of Local Fires

Author: Vũ Trọng Phụng

Publisher: Major Books

Released Date: 2024

ISBN: 9781917233026