Making a Whore

Author: Vu, Trong Phung

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

Published on 30 January 2025 by Major Books in the United Kingdom.

Paperback |
149 x 211 x 25 | 346g

What the publisher says: “The novel follows the life of Huyền, a young woman born into Hà Nội’s upper class, whose innocent interest in her mother’s pregnancy is casually dismissed: ‘You’ll find out when you get married.’ Lacking sexual education from her family, Huyền turns to her peers for answers, opening up a world of childish whispers about physical pleasure.”

What I say: In the early pages of Making a Whore, Vũ Trọng Phụng writes, “Lust is not evil; rather, it is a noble, beautiful, and profoundly sacred thing.” The gulf between that sentiment and the more regressive aspects of society play out over the course of this book, as protagonist Huyền recounts the story of her growing disillusionment regarding attitudes toward sex and the role of materialism in society.