★Offers a fresh, multi-layered portrait of Southeast Asia: Through three interwoven narratives—of a scammer, a hustler, and a wealthy heiress—the novel moves between Manila’s gritty streets, Huế’s fading imperial charm, and Singapore’s polished skyline, revealing a region rarely seen in Western literary fiction.
★Authored by a seasoned cross-cultural writer: Claire Betita de Guzman is an established Filipino-Singaporean novelist and former journalist with five published books, one adapted for television. Her background in lifestyle media and active participation in regional literary festivals lend authenticity and depth to her urban storytelling.
★Character-driven literary fiction with emotional and social resonance: Blending crime, migration, and class disparity, the story explores themes of escape, reinvention, and longing—offering both narrative tension and nuanced insight into contemporary Southeast Asian life. Appeals to readers of A Little Life or Normal People who seek emotionally rich, globally grounded fiction.

Meet the notorious Ativan Gang, a group of scammers in Manila who befriends solo tourists, then drugs and robs them. Twenty-five-year-old Carmen Maranan is their newest member, a college dropout desperate to see her mother, Nicole, now living with her new family in Vietnam’s old capital, Hue City. When Carmen flees Manila for Hue, she meets Hai, a receptionist, tout, and part-time pimp. Ambitious and driven, Hai’s goal is to be rich and run his own hotel, a dream that feels closer when he crosses paths with Marina, a wealthy Singaporean yearning for a new life—and love.

Told from the points of view of Carmen, Hai and Marina, Hue City brings you deep into the soul of Southeast Asia—from the faded, enigmatic streets of Vietnam’s former capital, to the fraught, gritty drags of Manila and the gleaming, cosmopolitan environs of Singapore—as it tells their intertwined journey towards the treacherous and sometimes heart-breaking path of starting over.

Claire Betita de Guzman
Claire Betita de Guzman is a Filipina writer based in Singapore and author of five novels: Sudden Superstar, Miss Makeover, Budget is the New Black, Girl Meets World, and No Boyfriend Since Birth, which was adapted into a TV series. A former journalist, she started as a reporter for the broadsheet Today before becoming a lifestyle editor for international and local magazines including Cosmopolitan Philippines and Harper’s Bazaar
Singapore. She works closely with the Migrant Writers of Singapore and has led talks and panels at literary events, including the Singapore Writers Festival and Poetry Festival Singapore. She studied Journalism and graduated cum laude (with honours) at the University of the Philippines. She has taken writing courses at the University of Oxford in England and was a fellow in literary workshops in Europe and Asia, including Miradoux, France, Bali, Indonesia, and Tbilisi, Georgia. She is co-author of a poetry collection, Dreaming of the Divine Downstairs and is co-editor of Get Luckier, an anthology of Philippine-Singapore writings.