The Cine Star Salon

by Leah Ranada

Philippine-born Vancouverite Sophia is most grateful for two her modest hair salon and Adrian, her mild-mannered fiancé. She is eager to get married, move away from her highly educated but career-frustrated parents, who believe that their daughter can be so much more than a beautician. Then Sophia's estranged friend reaches out from Manila, desperate for help. After a dubious accident, her fiery Auntie Rosy is on the verge of losing the Cine Star Salon--the place where Sophia first felt the call to become a hairstylist and salon owner. Coming to her auntie's aid is not so easy though. Sophia worries helping might reopen old wounds and threaten the bright future she has planned. Leah Ranada's debut novel is a graphic and engaging depiction of the importance of women's work and the loyalties that connect friends across oceans. The Cine Star Salon marks the entry of a vital new voice in Canadian literature.

334 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2021

About the author

Leah Ranada’s stories have been published in On Spec, Room Magazine, Santa Ana River Review, Scarlet Leaf Review, and elsewhere. Born in the Philippines, she moved to Canada in 2006 and made writing her permanent home. She attended The Writer’s Studio (TWS) at SFU. Her debut novel, The Cine Star Salon, was released October 2021.

Reviews

[Rena Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leah Ranada's well-behaved protagonist grows up page by page in this lovely debut novel. Family and others' expectations are a stranglehold on young Sophia, but she finds her way though to her own life, on her own terms. The cultural shifts she has to deal with, are well written and I very much enjoyed reading about the Filipino friends, food, and life she lead before landing in Canada. Ranada has consistently written secondary characters we feel we know in great depth by the end of the book, and I look forward to reading more by this emerging writer.

[Kelsey]

A lovely debut novel about the tangles of family, the obligations to friends, and the world of a hair salon. Ranada’s protagonist walks the line between doing what is expected of her by her family, who moved to Canada from the Philippines, and discovering what it is that she really wants herself, in sometimes conflicting and contradictory measures. A strong book from a promising new author.