Portraying the beauty of “ordinary” women

Two authors Vu Minh Hoa and Hue Nguyen (from left to right) at the book launch.

The book is published by Vietnam Women's Publishing House, on the occasion of Vietnamese Women's Day October 20.

Vu Minh Hoa is a familiar author to readers. She has published a number of books for women such as the autobiography "Single Journey", the skill book "The Storm Named the 13th Zodiac" and "Cong ano cong, thang ano truc: Diary of accompanying children during puberty".

She has a straightforward writing style, but also witty, intelligent, and close to readers. In particular, the book “Cong an cong, truc an truc: Diary of accompanying children during puberty” is written by her from her own experiences in the family, recording her own emotions and efforts to change from within to be able to accept her child’s new gender identity.

The characters in the book “The Love Left in the Heart” are all women, they are anyone the two authors have ever met in their lives; relatives such as mothers, aunts, sisters, cousins, colleagues, or people who have left an impression, emotion or a special mark. The book written by two women about women is also a very ordinary slice of life about ordinary women, but each has their own obstacles and challenges to overcome in life, and can be “extraordinary” women from a certain perspective.

The book, according to the two authors, is "true and emotional slices, love collected and recorded with all the hearts of two women, also two mothers."

Sharing about the book, author Vu Minh Hoa said that none of the women in the book are perfect, each has their own unique traits, their stories all have corners that touch the author’s heart, touch the hearts of friends. They are women from everywhere, from north to south, in the mountains, the sea, even abroad…

That is the author’s mother, mother-in-law, secondary school teacher… She is also the younger sister who rose from being uneducated to become a nurse in Germany, an old friend who realized her dream of becoming a Doctor… She is also an ethnic girl of the X-Tieng ethnic group in the red land of Dong Nai, who escaped poverty and domestic violence, became a tour guide, introducing the beauty of her homeland to tourists from all over the world…

The journey to create the book was a journey of chance and surprise, when two people with separate careers and jobs "collided" and connected with each other on the pages of writing.

The two authors shared: “We - Vu Minh Hoa and Hue Nguyen - two women who seemed to have nothing in common, yet found common ground when we sat down and talked about the women who had passed through our lives.”

They admit that Vu Minh Hoa - nicknamed "the nagging mother" - is a journalism graduate, author of books that touch on the most real corners of single motherhood, such as: "Single Journey" or go straight into the story of raising children with the book: "Cong eats cong, truc eats truc". Vu Minh Hoa often laughs, is humorous, likes to turn messy stories into energetic and witty lines.

Hue Nguyen - nicknamed "the bookworm who loves the kitchen" is a food engineer and health coach, gentle as the morning mist and profound as a home-cooked meal filled with love. Hue Nguyen chooses words like choosing ingredients: carefully, delicately and meticulously.

“We met through Facebook a few years ago, and our relationship was as vague as any other online friend – occasionally liking each other, sometimes only seeing each other in a status for a whole year. Then one day, Hue left a comment under my post. I can’t remember exactly what that comment was, but from then on, we started texting, then calling, and then… discussing books” - the two authors shared.

“We are sisters with two different personalities, sometimes miles apart, but when it comes to books, writing, and what is burning in our hearts, we meet at the same coordinates: in harmony from ideas to the way we convey content. It is as if there is an invisible thread connecting two very different souls, just need to touch the right frequency to understand each other. And so this book begins” - Vu Minh Hoa and Hue Nguyen said.

The book did not start from a formal plan, nor from a big dream, but from a very real urge - to write down the things that we cannot express in words. “The women who have touched our hearts - whether they are mothers, sisters, friends, or strangers who have passed by and left traces. Some warm our hearts like the morning sun, some make us cry, some are just there silently - but it is their presence that keeps us from collapsing in our weakest moments” - The two authors shared.

Writing about them, there were times when the two sisters had to stop writing for a long time, not because they ran out of ideas, but because they were moved. Each page was like a time to open up memories, touching their most vulnerable part. Sometimes Minh Hoa burst out laughing, sometimes Hue Nguyen was silent for a long time, sometimes the two sisters just texted each other: "Suddenly writing about this character, emotions welled up"...

The authors said that in the book, they could not portray all the women who had passed through their lives, but only selected deep slices, simple stories, but contained a part of themselves in them.

According to Hue Nguyen, her writing “fortune” began with the habit of keeping a diary since she was in school, and now the diaries have filled up the top of her cupboard. “In life, sometimes I feel like I need to find an answer, in addition to reading books or consulting others, I often talk to myself. This is like a way to heal” - Hue Nguyen said.

This is the first book of the two female authors, but also the beginning of another new journey when both affirm that they will continue to accompany each other. Hue Nguyen said that, in addition to writing about women, she has a lot of writing materials from her childhood and is cherishing the idea of writing a book for children.

Vu Minh Hoa affirmed: "Writing books is my journey, I cannot stop, especially writing about women and children."

HA CHI

Source: https://nhandan.vn/khac-hoa-ve-dep-cua-nhung-phu-nu-binh-thuong-post916195.html