Now in her third season playing the title role in The CW hit series, Nikita, Maggie Q knows what she wants — from the best angle to showcase a gown to how an action scene should be done in Hollywood.

ISSUE: Winter 2012-13

DEPT: Cover Feature

Photographer: Diana King

Stylist: Conor Graham

Makeup: Kayleen McAdams

Hair: Alex Polillo

Photo Assistant: Kevin Burnstein

Stylist Assistant: Morgan Howit

Producer: Olivia Wu

Story: Ada Tseng

At the start of our interview, Maggie Q jokes that she might be in a concussed state.

“I was just fighting this guy, and I smashed my head into the camera,” she says, still stunned. “I paused for a second, I had tears coming out of my eyes, and then I was like, ‘OK, I’m ready. Let’s go.’”

For most people, this sounds like a horrific assault, but it’s just another day at work for the 33-year-old actress and action star. In the past two seasons of her CW television show Nikita, Maggie has fallen down a ladder, broken fingers, and even burned her breasts. The latter happened while filming a scene where she was running down a hill, shooting a gun. She was sprinting so quickly that the hot, empty shells fell straight into her bra.

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FAMILY TIES: Praised for her collection of stories, We Should Never Meet, Aimee Phan returns with her first novel, The Reeducation of Cherry Truong, a multi-generational, cross-continental family saga. Susan Soon He Stanton reviews.

ISSUE: Spring 2012

DEPT: Plugged In

STORY: Susan Soon He Stanton

Aimee Phan’s debut novel, The Reeducation of Cherry Truong, is an intricately woven tale of two Vietnamese families, the Truongs and the Vos, bound together by an unwanted elopement. Phan deftly tracks dozens of Truongs and Vos through their harrowing escape from Vietnam and struggles with assimilation in the West. Phan’s multigenerational, cross-continental saga is surprisingly palatable, as she explores themes of identity, love and redemption with a nuanced grace. Cherry, the youngest grandchild, struggles to unlock decades of secrets and bitterness from her family, dispersed between France and America. The novel’s greatest secret, and the one closest to Cherry’s own story, involves her brother Lum’s family imposed exile to Vietnam.

On Cherry’s visit to Vietnam, Lum tells her, “The things our family did to each other … they don’t make up who you are. Our mistakes don’t dictate our lives.” However, the flood of events in Cherry Truong suggests otherwise. Decisions made in the heat of the moment indelibly shape lives. Cherry’s mother, Tuyet, chooses one ill-fated marriage over another. Cam, a female cousin, has her entire hopes of romantic love decided over the course of a holiday party. Grandma Vo, the family dowager, decides to teach her grandchildren a dangerous lesson. In the novel’s 30-year span, perhaps the most heart-breaking story is that of Grandma Hoa Truong, who endures reeducation camp and a life of displacement in France, while quietly suffering a lifetime with a disloyal and abusive husband.

While Phan plumbs emotional depths in her narrative and subtle details add startling realism, her narrative hopscotching can still feel like a collection of short stories rather than a fluid chronicle. Jumping from one decade to the next, and one family member to the other, at times, creates a dislocating effect. Some of the family members’ stories are more compelling than others and I wanted to spend more time getting acquainted with the key players than diving into yet another narrative about a second cousin. Nonetheless, despite this circuitous journey, Phan has created a rich tapestry of two families’ difficult immigration to the West that feels emotionally honest in its messy complexity.

Phan’s sensitively rendered first novel serves up a fierce tale of ordinary families displaced from their homeland during the Vietnam War. Despite the numerous characters and complex plotline, The Reeducation of Cherry Truong is well worth the read.

- Susan Soon He Stanton

More stories from Audrey’s Spring issue here

Getting geared up for summer? We here at Audrey are trying to give you all the help you need. Keep an eye out for our upcoming Thank Goodness It’s Free Fridays giveaways. We’ve got all sorts of summer goodies lined up for you.

Meanwhile, catch a deal on this TLé strapless maxi dress. Can’t you just picture it on a beachside resort? Made with featherweight chiffon and lined in georgette, the dress’s ombre sunset hues will make anyone look tan. It’s a great beach cover-up that you can then wear to dinner with some ethnic earrings and jangling bangles.

And if you think you can’t pull off a maxi dress because you’re not statuesque, don’t worry. Vietnamese American designer TLé specifically makes clothes for shorter women.

TLe strapless maxi dress.

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