Ocean Vuong’s second novel explores the mundane and ordinary lives of working-class Americans, focusing on the bonds that connect chosen family. Set in the fictional town of East Gladness, Connecticut, the book opens with Hai, aged 19, about to end his life by jumping from a bridge. From across the river, Grazina shouts to him and convinces him not to jump. Instead, he becomes her carer.
Grazina is an 82-year-old Lithuanian refugee with mid-stage dementia. Hai, a college drop-out and drug addict, does his best to look after her in his own dysfunctional way. He and Grazina form an honest, mutually supportive friendship in an otherwise bleak landscape.
This is a sweeping novel that tackles capitalism, war, class, racism, fast-food culture, and the industrial farming of animals. Vuong, a poet by background, writes beautifully and excels at depicting everyday lives and relationships built on surviving the daily grind.
Whilst not an easy read, The Emperor of Gladness shows how a group of people thrown together by circumstance can find friendship, humanity, and ultimately become family.
