This is the story of Má and Hieu.

Má dreams about wealth and grandeur, Hieu dreams about the pretty girls. Then there is also the second son, the younger brother, always in the periphery, always an observer. He gradually disappears into his schoolwork, mesmerised by his own astonishing intelligence.

The three of them form a solitary world in the small Ostrobothnian town. Má and Hieu, constantly on a collision course with each other and the community's suffocating social codes. They live among people who want to talk openly about everything, who don't understand the necessity of focus and shade. 

Shade and Breeze is Quynh's Tran's evocative and poignant debut novel - a story about love, obsession and the meaning of family.