Monique Truong is an eminent Vietnamese American author and novelist who rose to fame with her maiden venture, ‘The Book of Salt’. Academically trained as an intellectual property advocate, Truong’s first love had always been writing. However, scared of not being able to make a career in creative writing, she took to studying law in order to support herself financially. But it seems fate had something else in store for her. It was a poetry reading session that inspired Truong to give up her legal practice and pursue a career in writing. Till date, she has released two novels, ‘The Book of Salt’ and ‘Bitter in the Mouth’ both of which have received rave reviews from the readers and made it to the bestseller list. Truong’s style of writing is unique as she effortlessly uses her life experiences to pen tales. Being a wartime kid and later a refugee, life in the initial years was hard for Truong as she tried to cope with the new country, new culture and new language. However, with time, things bettered for her and her family. Other than penning novels, Truong has contributed for several magazines and has served as a fellow and writer-in-residence for numerous foundations