Book Discussion: Dandelion by Jamie Chai Yun Liew

Dandelion was nominated by pastry chef, Saïd M’Dahoma, also known on social media as the Pastry Nerd, as part of Canada Reads 2025. Dandelion won second place in the literary competition!

From the publisher, Arsenal Pulp Press
When Lily was eleven years old, her mother, Swee Hua, walked away from the family, never to be seen or heard from again. Now a new mother herself, Lily becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to Swee Hua. She recalls the spring of 1987, growing up in a small British Columbia mining town where there were only a handful of Asian families; Lily's previously stateless father wanted to blend seamlessly into Canadian life, while her mother, alienated and isolated, longed to return to Brunei. Years later, still affected by Swee Hua's disappearance, Lily's family is stubbornly silent to her questioning. But eventually, an old family friend provides a clue that sends Lily to Southeast Asia to find out the truth.

Jamie Chai Yun Liew (she/her) is the recipient of the Jim Wong-Chu Emerging Writers Award from the Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop. She is a lawyer and law professor specializing in immigration, refugee, and citizenship law and the creator of the award-winning podcast Migration Conversations. She lives in Ottawa, Algonquin Anishinaabe territory, with her family.