An Irresistible Summer Read

Why Frances Kai-Hwa Wang’s latest book should be on your TBR while the heatwave lasts

Image created by the author on Canva. Cover courtesy of Wayne State University Press.

Frances Kai-Hwa Wang’s new book, You Cannot Resist Me When My Hair Is in Braids is like a delicate dance navigating the hope, disillusion and beauty that accompanies the immigrant experience.

Set in the backdrop of fraught times, the book explores motherhood, divorce, love, self-expression and the nurturing relationships that form, what she refers to as, “a beloved community”. In a recent interview with PBS NewsHour’s Jeffrey Brown, Wang describes her book as:

“a love letter to the task of constructing a life … and finding your place in the world.”
― Frances Kai-Hwa Wang, July, 1st 2022 interview with Jeffrey Brown on the PBS NewsHour

There are no simple solutions to solving the problems life throws our way, only questions that are never fully resolved. Wang’s writing embraces this uncertainty, creates a space for it and turns it into a beautiful object of contemplation.

So I linger awhile longer in this space, this space between goodbye … And in the quiet before goodbye, I sing his song.
― Frances Kai-Hwa Wang, You Cannot Resist Me When My Hair Is in Braids