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  • Published: 5 November 2024
  • ISBN: 9789815144277
  • Imprint: PRH SEA
  • Format: Paperback
  • RRP: $32.99

Hue City




A story on the treacherous yet rewarding path of starting over, set in the enigmatic streets of Vietnam’s former capital, Hue, and in the contrasting Southeast Asian cities of Singapore and Manila.

Meet the notorious Ativan Gang, a group of scammers in Manila who befriends solo tourists, then drugs and robs them. Twenty-five-year-old Carmen Maranan is their newest member, a college dropout desperate to see her mother, Nicole, now living with her new family in Vietnam’s old capital, Hue City. When Carmen flees Manila for Hue, she meets Hai, a receptionist, tout, and part-time pimp. Ambitious and driven, Hai’s goal is to be rich and run his own hotel, a dream that feels closer when he crosses paths with Marina, a wealthy Singaporean yearning for a new life—and love.

Told from the points of view of Carmen, Hai and Marina, Hue City brings you deep into the soul of Southeast Asia—from the faded, enigmatic streets of Vietnam’s former capital, to the fraught, gritty drags of Manila and the gleaming, cosmopolitan environs of Singapore—as it tells their intertwined journey towards the treacherous and sometimes heart-breaking path of starting over.

  • Published: 5 November 2024
  • ISBN: 9789815144277
  • Imprint: PRH SEA
  • Format: Paperback
  • RRP: $32.99

About the author

Claire Betita de Guzman

Claire Betita de Guzman is a Filipina writer based in Singapore and author of four rom-com novels: Miss Makeover, Budget is the New Black, Girl Meets World, and No Boyfriend Since Birth, which was adapted into a TV series. A former journalist, she started as a news reporter for the broadsheet Today before becoming a lifestyle editor for international and local magazines including Cosmopolitan Philippines and Harper's Bazaar Singapore. She is a member of the Singapore Writers Group and has led talks and panels at literary events in Southeast Asia, including the Singapore Writers Festival. She studied Journalism and graduated cum laude (with honours) at the University of the Philippines. She has taken writing courses at the University of Oxford in England and was a fellow in literary workshops in Europe and Asia, including Miradoux, France, Bali, Indonesia, and Tbilisi, Georgia. She is co-author of a poetry collection, Dreaming of the Divine Downstairs and is co-editor of Get Luckier, an anthology of Philippine-Singapore writings. Find her online at www.clairebetita.com.

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