I snapped up Pick a Colour as soon as I spotted it on NetGalley having enjoyed Souvankham Thammavongsa’s Giller-Prize-winning short story collection, How to Pronounce Knife. Her new one is set over one day in a nail salon run by Ning who, in another life, was a boxer. Everyone’s called Susan at Ning’s salon: it saves on nametags and avoids confusing the customers to whom they all look the same, anyway. Regulars and walk-ins are skilfully persuaded into extras, share their unhappiness and problems, offer unsolicited advice, unaware of the scathing, often funny back and forth between Ning’s team conducted in their own language offering their views on these entitled clients who notice next to nothing about the women who are performing intimate services for them, and care less.
Thammavongsa’s brief novella is narrated in Ning’s voice, in short, sparse prose, offering glimpses of her story as she takes us through the day. She’s a smart businesswoman, as dedicated to the success of her salon as she once was to boxing, intensely private and self-contained. Once or twice, we see the woman beneath the controlled exterior she presents to the world but she continues to withhold herself from her clients despite the intimacies and secrets which pour out of them. It’s an impressive piece of work. I’m not one for nail salons but it might make me think on my next visit if I were.

A short but interesting and well written story, with commentary on class, labour and gender. While nothing actually happened, I really enjoyed the focus on the women (the Susans), their work life and relationships with each other. This was like being a fly on the wall with dedicated insight into Ning’s life. A great character study of a book.