What We All Long For

By Dionne Brand

Award-winning writer Dionne Brand powerfully delves into uncharted aspects of urban life, the bittersweetness of youth and the secrets families try to hide. Tuyen, an aspiring artist whose family arrived from Vietnam in the 1970s, rejects her immigrant family's hard-won suburban Toronto comforts. Instead, she lives in a rundown apartment on College Street that she shares with her friends-- each of whom is grappling with familial complexities and heartache. Tuyen's parents are still haunted by the loss of their son Quy, who disappeared in the chaos of fleeing Vietnam. Now, unbeknownst to his long-lost family, Quy has become a criminal in the Thai underworld--and he's coming to Toronto. Amid the dynamic rhythms of the city, the tension surrounding Quy's arrival mounts, and leads to a violent, unexpected encounter that will alter forever, the lives of Tuyen and her friends.