The Soul-selling Guy: Người Bán Linh Hồn (Bilingual Short Stories)

The Soul-selling guy - Người bán linh hồn is the latest collection of 12 bilingual Vietnamese - English short stories by author Tran Thuy Mai. The Hue-born author continues to nurture in her prose a love, a love that is like the essence and origin of all small but meaningful things in life. Opening the short story collection, readers feel as if they are "strolling" on a road made of words imbued with the distinct flavor of Hue and the soft feminine quality of the author, being able to "go through", "witness" the lives of different women, some joyful, some sorrowful, wading through the currents of life with their fragile bodies, their naked beauty, people of giving and trade-offs. However, shining through somewhere is still faith, hope, and a warm heart yearning to be happy, to be embraced and protected by a pure, simple love.

Those are girls who give their all for love like Lan in Thương nhớ Hoàng Lan, Na in Người bán linh hồn who, despite the hatred, barriers, and slander of the world, still whole-heartedly turn towards the ones they love, praying to be reciprocated even with just a little small affection; the kind of love of confinement, dependence, and suffocation, forcing the woman to draw up a vision to fulfill her wish that will never come true in Chiếc nhẫn ngọc lục bảo, Núi Ngựa Trắng; the scene of Vietnamese women precarious and drifting in a foreign land with the dream of changing their lives in Gặp ở xứ người; to Eva dại dột, when a man frantically and desperately molds for himself a unique muse, a perfect lover, only to slide into disillusionment, the blurs between artistic beauty and real life, and losing love, a vicious cycle of stubbornness...

Small but sharp short stories, not faint, nor passing by like fleeting lifetimes, but leaving behind faith and burning forever an immortal love is what Tran Thuy Mai's characters and words achieve through The Soul-selling Guy. The narrative thread gently tightens at the peak climaxes, interspersed with both the quality of life, the harshness and bitterness of human hearts, but at the same time warming up empathy, the soft feminine quality nurtured like the most simple and pure wishes.

After the success of the "national novel" Từ Dụ Thái hậu, writer Tran Thuy Mai continues to "please" readers with a writing style that is inherently her strength and possesses a magical charm to attract empathy, the thinnest, lightest, and deepest vibrating corners in the heart of each reader. In particular, this short story work by Tran Thuy Mai is presented in a bilingual Vietnamese - English format, showing the appeal of a writer who is not only impressive to domestic readers and literary circles but also leaves a mark on international literature.

Author: Trần Thùy Mai

Publisher: Vietnam Women's Publishing House

Released Date: 2019

ISBN: 9786045668795