The Emperor of Gladness

11.98

One late summer evening in the post-industrial town of East Gladness, Connecticut, nineteen-year-old Hai stands on the edge of a bridge in pelting rain, ready to jump, when he hears someone shout across the river. The voice belongs to Grazina, an elderly widow succumbing to dementia, who convinces him to take another path. Bereft and out of options, he quickly becomes her caretaker. Over the course of the year, the unlikely pair develops a life-altering bond, one built on empathy, spiritual reckoning, and heartbreak, with the power to alter Hai’s relationship to himself, his family, and a community at the brink.

Peek Inside

In stock

 

Check the box below to add a card to the basket. Please use ‘Notes’ to indicate occasion and your message

Do you feel this product is perfect for a friend or a loved one? You can buy a gift card for this item! Gift this product

Ships in 24h

Across Ireland

Click & Collect

Free in Wicklow

Easy returns

Within 30 days

Secure checkout

Stripe protected

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

'Heartbreaking, heartwarming yet unsentimental, and savagely comic' Guardian
'Some of the most beautiful writing I've experienced in my lifetime' Oprah Winfrey

College dropout Hai doesn't know how to face the future until a chance meeting with elderly widow Grazina changes his life.

One late summer evening in the town of East Gladness, nineteen-year-old Hai stands on the edge of a bridge, ready to jump, when he hears someone shout across the river. The voice belongs to Grazina, an elderly widow.

From this moment, his second chance begins. Over the course of the year, Hai's story takes new and unexpected turns, as his life-altering bond with Grazina transforms his relationship to the community, his family and, most powerfully of all, to himself.

'An epic about forgiveness and narrow escapes, of chosen family and the American Dream' GQ

'His most vivid, ambitious work yet' Dazed

'The first millennial Great American Novel' ArtReview

'This stunning book moved me so much' Caitriona Balfe

'A poetic, dramatic and vivid story' Colm Toibin

READERS ARE OBSESSED WITH THE EMPEROR OF GLADNESS:
'Read it slowly. Let it wreck you. Then read it again'
'I feel like I lost part of my soul to this book'
'I would give it 6 stars if I could'
'Sad and funny, devastating and quietly celebratory'
'A masterwork of compassion and complexity'

Additional information

Weight290 g
Dimensions19.7 × 12.9 × 2.8 cm
Book_author

Vuong, Ocean

Publisher

VINTAGE

Imprint

Vintage

Cover

Paperback

Pages

416

Language

English

Edition

1st paperback ed

Dewey

813.6 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K

You may also like…

  • Time is a mother

    15.60
    Add to basket
  • On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous

    11.98
    Add to basket