A Banh Mi for Two

When Vivi studies abroad in Vietnam and meets Lan, the girls spend the semester unraveling their families' histories, eating all the street food in Saigon, and falling in love.

In Sài Gòn, Chinese-Vietnamese Lan tries to be the perfect daughter, dependable and willing to care for her widowed mother and their bánh mì stall. Her secret passion, however, is A Bánh Mì for Two, the food blog she started with her father, but has stopped updating since his passing.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese American Vivi Huynh, has never been to Viet Nam. Her parents rarely even talk about the homeland that clearly haunts them. Vivi can only daydream about Sài Gòn through the eyes of A Bánh Mì for Two: her favorite food account dedicated to the street food of the city. Once she secretly begins studying abroad in Vietnam her freshman year of college, Vivi decides to finally unearth the reasons her parents fled their homeland.

When Vivi and Lan meet in Sài Gòn, they decide to help each other. Lan shows Vivi around the city, helping her track down locations from old photographs of her mother. Meanwhile, Vivi helps Lan start writing again so she can enter a food blogging contest. As they write and explore the city, their complicated histories catch up with them, and their connection becomes undeniable.

Trinity Nguyen is a Vietnamese American author and a recent graduate of Franklin & Marshall College. She writes messy diaspora kids and queer girls with big smiles and big hearts, and currently lives in Southern California with her cats. Banh Mí For Two is her debut novel.

“In A Bánh Mì for Two, Trinity Nguyen brings Sài Gòn to life on the page. The sights, the people, and, most importantly, the food, capture your heart just as much as the blossoming sapphic romance. A beautiful story of family, love, and home.” —Rachael Lippincott, New York Times–bestselling author of Five Feet Apart and She Gets the Girl

“Sweet and swoony, thoughtful and real, A Bánh Mì for Two is perfect for anyone who’s ever yearned for something, but never quite found it, until the right person came along.” —Adib Khorram, award–winning author of Darius the Great Is Not Okay

“Nguyen intricately weaves an exploration of Vietnamese American identity in this charming coming-of-age story. Readers will experience the exuberance of young love while taking a delicious trip through Sài Gòn.” —Julie Tieu, author of The Donut Trap

“A Bánh Mì for Two is a deliciously sweet read! I adored this emotional story about two girls finding love in each other and in the noisy city at the center of their families’ hearts.” —Trang Thanh Tran, New York Times-bestselling author of She Is a Haunting

“Deeply romantic and evocative, with a voice as fresh as a warm baguette, Trinity Nguyen’s debut is a love letter to Viet girls and Saì Gòn that you won’t soon forget.” —Michelle Quach, author of Not Here to Be Liked

“A delicious treat of a debut, A Bánh Mì for Two is filled with sweet romance, hearty familial love, and a rich exploration of the meaning of home. Vivi and Lan’s respective arcs beautifully complement one another, creating the perfect recipe for them as a couple.” —Racquel Marie, author of Ophelia After All