Ocean Vuong's latest novel, The Emperor of Gladness is much anticipated and already much lauded in advance praise. Vuong is a genuine talent, and reading this you get the real sense of a novelist flexing his literary muscles, widening his scope beyond the intimate focus which made up his debut, 2019's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous.

Hai is a 19 year old, a drop-out drug addict in the town of East Gladness. He moves in with Grazina, an elderly Lithuanian immigrant with dementia, and so begins a reflective tale that discusses many themes, to create a novel that feels both broad and focussed. Vuong is a beautiful writer - he is also a published poet - and there is a rich texture to the language.

I took my time with this novel - it is one to read slowly - and I became fully engaged with life in East Gladness - and felt somewhat bereft when the novel had finished. This fine novel will continue to be lauded, I'm sure, and is the perfect novel for book clubs etc to discuss and tease out the themes of.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

The Emperor of Gladness is a haunting, poetic novel that explores the unexpected relationship between Hai, a 19-year-old adrift in grief, and Grazina, an 82-year-old widow slipping into dementia. Ocean Vuong weaves their story with his signature lyrical prose, immersing the reader in a landscape marked by emotional desolation and small, radiant moments of connection. Set in the post-industrial town of East Gladness, the novel moves between memories and present moments with fluid grace, revealing how two seemingly distant lives can intersect and offer each other a strange kind of salvation.

At its core, the novel is about memory—how it fades, how it persists, and how it shapes the way we survive. Vuong doesn’t shy away from pain or violence; instead, he lets it echo through the silences of his characters, letting gesture and glance say what words often can’t. Yet amidst this sorrow, there’s an undercurrent of radical tenderness. Hai’s decision to care for Grazina becomes not just an act of compassion but a reclamation of his own fractured identity. The Emperor of Gladness is a deeply felt meditation on generational trauma, queer identity, and the quiet, transformative power of empathy.

The Emperor of Gladness follows Hai who is nineteen and a college dropout. In the town of East Gladness, Hai is on a bridge about to jump when he sees someone shout across the river. Grazina is the one who shouted and she is an elderly widow with dementia. Grazina invites Hai to live with her and the two develop a powerful bond.

This was so beautiful and I loved it so much. It’s a slow novel that creeps up on you. Ocean Vuong has a real gift when it comes to writing and I have no quotes picked out from this book because the whole book is quotable. Every page drips with emotion and the whole book is just beautiful. This book made me happy and sad at the same time. I really understood Hai and why he did certain things and the bond between Hai and Grazina was beautiful. I also loved the bond between Hai and his coworkers. There was also some subtle dark humour in this which I loved. This author is incredibly talented and I cannot wait to see what he does next. I will definitely buy a physical copy of this and I will recommend this to everyone I know. I feel like I lost part of my soul to this book and I do not know how to properly articulate my feelings. This is definitely a contender for my favourite book of the year.

This was a book I really enjoyed. Both the main characters were so unusual and an unlikely pair but their connection really leaped off the page

Ocean Vuong returns with a searing and tender exploration of love, memory, and survival in The Emperor of Gladness, a haunting book set in the post-industrial quietude of East Gladness, Connecticut. At its centre is Hai, a nineteen-year-old teetering on the edge of despair, and Grazina, an elderly widow battling dementia. Their chance encounter on a rain-swept bridge unspools into a deeply affecting story of intergenerational friendship and unexpected healing.

Hai, adrift in the aftermath of personal loss and a community buckling under the weight of poverty and addiction, finds both purpose and painful reflection in caring for Grazina. In her fractured memories and confusion, she becomes an unlikely mirror to Hai’s own unresolved grief. Their bond offers both characters – and the reader – a glimpse at what it means to keep living, even when every reason not to mounts.

Vuong’s signature style is here in full bloom: lyrical, daring, and profoundly emotional. His sentences are crafted with the care of a poet, but they never feel indulgent. The book moves like memory itself – not always linear, but full of aching clarity and resonance. There’s a quiet revolution in Vuong’s pages: a challenge to how we view care, who gets to be remembered, and the small mercies that carry us through.

With echoes of war and the legacies it leaves behind, Vuong weaves personal and collective trauma into something deeply human and redemptive. The Emperor of Gladness is not simply a story about saving or being saved, but about the gentle art of staying – of choosing connection, even in the ruins.

This is a masterwork of compassion and complexity. A book to sit with, to feel deeply, and to return to.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

The Emperor of Gladness is the first book I’ve read by Ocean Vuong. In no way did I expect what I found within this novel. It is stunningly crafted both in the use of language and the use of characters to transform one another.

We meet 19-year-old Hai. He’s trapped in lies, grief, and addiction. On the night he decides to end it all, he meets Grazina, an 82-year-old widow with dementia. What follows is the story of two people, both immigrants, with vast differences in age and culture. Yet it is a bond that sustains them both as Hai becomes Grazina’s carer.

Hai eventually gets a job at a fast food-type outlet. His coworkers are brilliantly captured by Vuong. These are the people who have been pushed to the edges of society, working-class people, truly marginalised yet with heart and compassion for one another. Through each other they find their sense of worth.

The Emperor of Gladness isn’t a novel to be read quickly. It’s to be lingered over and read slowly, as Ocean Vuong understands the power of words to transform the reader.

Thank you to Random House UK, Vintage Books, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ocean Vuong has, to this day, one of the most powerful and evocative writing styles I have ever read - their words just seem to hit me in my soul. This new title is just as stunning. I would give it 6 stars if I could

The unlikely bond between two souls who have had their fair share of difficulties.
Hai and Grazina show us what hurting and survival mean.
Well written and great example of literature.

i love ocean vuong's works, i have read everything he has written and i don't even know how i love every single one of them and like no other, this too is an instant 5 star.
the plot tackles so many heavy topic but the story flows like water, and it flows you with it, and i am really grateful zadie smith for encouraging him to write it.