Before she became an award-winning memoirist, Ly Tran immigrated to the US at the age of 3, where her life was shaped by the inherited trauma from her father’s experiences as a Vietnam War Veteran and Prisoner of War. Ly’s childhood was spent working in poverty and sweatshop labour from her home in New York. She gradually lost the ability to see properly, leading to her grades deteriorating and her dropping out of college. And yet Ly’s story is  NOT one defined by her darkest periods of depression. 

Her story is an inspiring journey marked by changes, ambition, intelligence and success.

She regained her eyesight, graduated from Columbia University and faced her family’s intergenerational trauma headon by writing about her life in her memoir “House of Sticks”. Her book was selected as one of Vogue’s and NPR’s Best Books of the Year and in this episode, we dive deeper into the many turning points in Ly’s life.

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Buy Ly’s memoir “House of Sticks” on Amazon US, Amazon UK and Barnes & Noble (US).

Ly’s social media:

Instagram (@endingforadverbs)

Twitter (@LyTranWrites)

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Trigger Warning: Depression, trauma.