She climbed into his lap and clung to him. One night, Esme had a nightmare and came crying into Khai’s bedroom. She got the impression right away that he was kind even though he was the strangest person she had ever met.Įsme began frustrating Khai right away by cleaning the yard, rearranging things in the house, and interfering with his routines. Mỹ, who had changed her name to Esmeralda “Esme” Tran, was also attracted to Khai. When Khai picked Mỹ up at the airport, he had to admit that he was sexually attracted to her. In the present, Khai agreed to give Mỹ a chance even though he was not happy with his mother for trying to be a matchmaker.

She told Mỹ that Mỹ and her daughter could have a better life with more opportunity in America. Even though Mỹ was not sure about the proposition, her mother told her it was too good of an offer to pass up. Mỹ had passed her test and Cô Nga wanted her to come to America to meet Khai. Cô Nga called Mỹ later that day and told her that question had been a test.

Mỹ refused because she did not want to be part of tricking someone into getting married. If she were to get pregnant, Khai would think he had to marry her. She proposed to Mỹ that she could come to America and try to seduce Khai. Mỹ was surprised when the woman showed an interest in her and asked her if she would be interested in her son, Khai. For that reason, he felt it was best for him to avoid relationships, especially relationships with women.įour months before the present day of the novel, Mỹ was cleaning toilets in a hotel in Vietnam when an obviously wealthy woman entered the restroom. He believed as a result of this experience that he could neither grieve nor love. Even though people around him were openly crying, Khai could not cry. The novel opens ten years in the past as Khai was attending the funeral of Andy, his best friend. It was only when Khai was able to work through his emotions and understand he pushed people away emotionally not just because of his autism, but also because of guilt over his best friend’s death, that he was able to fully love Mỹ. Even though Mỹ and Khai fell madly in love with one another, their perceived faults kept getting in the way of their relationship. Mỹ’s mother told her that it was an opportunity that she could not allow to her pass her by, a chance for a better life for Mỹ and her daughter. The proposition carried with it an invitation for Mỹ, who lived in a poor village in Vietnam, to spend the summer in California working in Cô Nga’s restaurant and going to weddings with the family. The Bride Test by Helen Hoang is a comedy of errors when self-conscious Trần Ngọc Mỹ is chosen by Cô Nga to seduce her autistic son, Khai Diep. The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Hoang, Helen.

The bride test novel