Thien's first book, a collection of short stories called Simple Recipes, won the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and the City of Vancouver Book Award, was a finalist for the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book (Canada and Caribbean region), and was named a notable book by the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize.
“I am astonished by the clarity and ease of the writing, and a kind of emotional purity.”
— Alice Munro