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Thao Votang on "Linh Ly Is Doing Just Fine"

Co-presented with the Prince George's County Office of Human Rights

The Prince George’s County Office of Human Rights and the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System welcome Thao Votang in conversation about her brand new novel, "Linh Ly Is Doing Just Fine."

When 27-year-old Linh Ly’s recently-divorced mother begins dating a coworker, Linh is determined to make sure he is worthy of her mother. She’s seen the kind of men her mother ends up with—she grew up watching her unreliable and volatile alcoholic father as her mother worked two jobs to make ends meet. Linh is certain that her mother can’t do this on her own, but what begins as genuine worry quickly turns obsessive.

Following her mother and spying on her dates becomes part of Linh’s routine, especially after a university shooting at Linh’s work that leaves her feeling adrift—at least her mom’s dating life gives her something to focus on. Linh doesn’t exactly have a life of her own (dating or otherwise) and figures the best course of action is action—not how she handled the shooting: curl up in a ball and wait it out.

Linh is slowly forced to reconcile the image of her mother from her childhood with the woman she’s getting to know as an adult. Growing up Vietnamese in the middle of Texas with a broken household taught Linh a certain guarded way of living—one she never quite left behind.

Moving, insightful, and caustically funny all at once, "Linh Ly Is Doing Just Fine," depicts a quarter-life crisis in deeply relatable prose.

About the author: Thao Votang has been published in Salon, Hyperallergic, Southwest Contemporary, Milk Candy Review, and Lucky Jefferson. When she’s not looking at art, she can be found reading one of the many books she has put in her bag or hidden under that couch cushion. Her fiction is informed by her experience as part of the Vietnamese diaspora deep in the lone star state, her interest in how we love our mothers, and the climate catastrophe.