Carolyn is an Australian teacher of music who travels to Hanoi to teach english and hopes to find romance as she is single. Her first impressions are not good as she is shocked at the abject poverty and finds the heat and humidity opressive 38 degress, its also the start of the monsoon season. She has to cope with 6 lanes without traffic lights! Pavements full of sellers sitting by the roadside with no place to walk and in the rain they become fast flowing rivers. She manages to make some friends with the locals as she wishes to live amongst them, others do not take to westerners. It takes her a month to find where the other expats hangout.
There is plenty of humour in this book, you get the feel and taste of Vietnam with all the detail that is written, it is also very revealing about how it feels to live in a communist country still poverty stricken from its legacy of war. For a first book this is well written and draws you in. Really enjoyable and I highly recommend it.
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![Single White Female in Hanoi by [Carolyn Shine]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51yLru6C3rL._SY346_.jpg)
Single White Female in Hanoi Kindle Edition
‘Beautifully written and very funny, the perfect combination of Hanoi, sexual taboo and gender politics.’ Emily Maguire (Bestselling Australian author)
'Original and quirky, a warm-hearted and very funny tale of noodles, sexual longing and cultural misunderstanding in the new Vietnam' Mark Dapin (Journalist, columnist and author)
Sydney-based musician Carolyn Shine moves to Hanoi virtually on a whim, expecting to find romance and available culture. She’s in for some big surprises.
Funny, warm and engaging, her travel memoir introduces us to a cast of memorable Vietnamese characters as well as her fellow foreigners searching for love and adventure. From teaching English, sub-editing a propaganda news sheet, to forming a blues band, against the backdrop of a world seemingly alive with the promise of romance, this is a beguiling evocation of Hanoi and its people: pungent, earthy and sensual.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Carolyn Shine studied Fine Arts and Linguistics at the University of New South Wales and went on to become a musician, songwriter and music educator. As a freelance writer she has been published in various publications, including the Sydney Morning Herald. She moved to Hanoi on a whim in 2002, expecting available culture and romance. Her disappointment propelled her to seek satisfying answers to questions on culture that until then she’d never dared ask.
'Original and quirky, a warm-hearted and very funny tale of noodles, sexual longing and cultural misunderstanding in the new Vietnam' Mark Dapin (Journalist, columnist and author)
Sydney-based musician Carolyn Shine moves to Hanoi virtually on a whim, expecting to find romance and available culture. She’s in for some big surprises.
Funny, warm and engaging, her travel memoir introduces us to a cast of memorable Vietnamese characters as well as her fellow foreigners searching for love and adventure. From teaching English, sub-editing a propaganda news sheet, to forming a blues band, against the backdrop of a world seemingly alive with the promise of romance, this is a beguiling evocation of Hanoi and its people: pungent, earthy and sensual.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Carolyn Shine studied Fine Arts and Linguistics at the University of New South Wales and went on to become a musician, songwriter and music educator. As a freelance writer she has been published in various publications, including the Sydney Morning Herald. She moved to Hanoi on a whim in 2002, expecting available culture and romance. Her disappointment propelled her to seek satisfying answers to questions on culture that until then she’d never dared ask.
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication date3 April 2012
- File size1442 KB
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Product details
- ASIN : B007R98DOM
- Publisher : Transit Lounge; 1st ebook edition (3 April 2012)
- Language : English
- File size : 1442 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 333 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: 563,066 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 125 in Solo Travel
- 140 in Literary Travel
- 3,903 in Biographies of Travellers & Explorers
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
13 global ratings
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Top reviews from other countries

marglyn
5.0 out of 5 stars
Expat in Hanoi
Reviewed in the United States on 16 April 2012Verified Purchase
3 people found this helpful
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Alison D D
4.0 out of 5 stars
Looking for adventure
Reviewed in the United States on 25 May 2012Verified Purchase
I really enjoyed this story of life in Hanoi, written by an Australian woman who decides to go there on a whim. She has many interesting stories of her search for jobs, friends both Vietnamese and Ex pats from different countries. She doesn't paint a very pretty picture, more real I would say of the city itself. Did not make me want to move there, but did very much like reading about it and her escapades.
3 people found this helpful
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Homer McConda
4.0 out of 5 stars
I came across this book while researching an upcoming trip ...
Reviewed in the United States on 7 April 2016Verified Purchase
I came across this book while researching an upcoming trip to Hanoi. It was a very enjoyable and interesting read. I believe my experience of visiting Hanoi will be richer for having read this book. Thank you, Ms. Shine.

Collector T
5.0 out of 5 stars
Single White Female in Hanoi-great read!
Reviewed in the United States on 28 May 2012Verified Purchase
This is such a fun journey to follow. You won't be disappointed reading this adventure of a young Australian woman as she explores the landscape, people, food and culture of Hanoi --while teaching English and earning a living. Surprisingly good fun!

DebS
4.0 out of 5 stars
A brave girl
Reviewed in the United States on 10 January 2013Verified Purchase
You have to admire a woman who takes off on her own to a foreign country where she can't speak the language to live for a year! I enjoyed reading about her experiences and her love/hate relationship with the culture. It was a great outsider's perspective on life in Hanoi.The novel is well written and keeps the reader involved with all the escapades of the main character as she learns how to cope with living in Hanoi.
One person found this helpful
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