The Many Daughters of Afong Moy
Books | Fiction / Historical / General
3.7
(145)
Jamie Ford
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick! “One of the most beautiful books of motherhood and what we pass on to those that come after us.” —Jenna Bush Hager, Today The New York Times bestselling author of the “mesmerizing and evocative” (Sara Gruen, author of Water for Elephants) Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet returns with a powerful exploration of the love that binds one family across the generations. Dorothy Moy breaks her own heart for a living. As Washington’s former poet laureate, that’s how she describes channeling her dissociative episodes and mental health struggles into her art. But when her five-year-old daughter exhibits similar behavior and begins remembering things from the lives of their ancestors, Dorothy believes the past has truly come to haunt her. Fearing that her child is predestined to endure the same debilitating depression that has marked her own life, Dorothy seeks radical help. Through an experimental treatment designed to mitigate inherited trauma, Dorothy intimately connects with past generations of women in her family: Faye Moy, a nurse in China serving with the Flying Tigers; Zoe Moy, a student in England at a famous school with no rules; Lai King Moy, a girl quarantined in San Francisco during a plague epidemic; Greta Moy, a tech executive with a unique dating app; and Afong Moy, the first Chinese woman to set foot in America. As painful recollections affect her present life, Dorothy discovers that trauma isn’t the only thing she’s inherited. A stranger is searching for her in each time period. A stranger who’s loved her through all of her genetic memories. Dorothy endeavors to break the cycle of pain and abandonment, to finally find peace for her daughter, and gain the love that has long been waiting, knowing she may pay the ultimate price.
Historical Fiction
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More Details:
Author
Jamie Ford
Pages
384
Publisher
Simon and Schuster
Published Date
2022-08-02
ISBN
1982158212 9781982158217
Community ReviewsSee all
"Not for everyone, but I enjoyed it. It’s definitely one of those kinds of books that you need to do a double-take with while you read. Closest things I can compare it to is Inception and Everything, Everywhere, All at Once. Has the elements of “time travel” while hitting pieces of the main character’s life. "
Sara SoDeezy
"I often enjoy Jamie Ford’s books. I’m partial to her as she is a local artist in the Pacific Northwest. This book was very different from her other books. It is a very imaginative tale. I found myself getting angry about how all the different women are treated in various time periods, but in the end, Jamie Ford bestows upon them some karma. Good story."
Merry
"A beautifully woven story about generations of women. Absolutely stunning book. "
Heidi Oneil
"Unique yet confusing concept that felt more like a standard family saga with too many characters and time periods to keep straight."
Ricki Marking-Camuto
"I don’t really know how to write a book review. All I know is how to tell people about a book I liked, loved, or hated. I loved this one.<br/><br/>The first thing I loved is the fact this this book, a book about seven generations of women, was written by a man. <br/><br/>Secondly, I love historical fiction and Ford does impeccable research. He finds an interesting story (the real story of Afong Moy, the first Chinese woman to come to America) and he brilliantly crafts her back story, her present, and her future generations. The pain suffered by Afong is carried through the generations until sometime in the future (2045), when Dorothy Moy seeks and finds a remedy.<br/><br/>It took me some time to get the storylines straight in my head. I kept going back to the “character” page at the beginning of the book. Now who is this “Faye” person? Back to the character page. Eventually it all came together and I understood that the character of Dorothy was the key to everything. Her story, set in the not-so-distant year of 2045, discovers a therapy that will eventually heal the multi-generational trauma.<br/><br/>And finally, how could I not love a book that includes a nod to my favorite poem ever—Annabel Lee by Edgar Allen Poe?"
Diane Oravec
"It was weird"
Hannah Russell
"As a long time fan of Jamie Ford, I was very excited to see this new historical fiction was coming out. Ford explores the life and descendants of Afong Moy, the first known female Chinese immigrant in the United States. The novel moves between past centuries and future decades as the reader explores the epigenetic inheritances that are passed down from one generation of female Moys to the next. <br/><br/>The main narrator, Dorothy, is living in 2045 with her daughter Annabel and is dealing with dissociative episodes that she does not understand. After seeking treatment from an indigenous doctor, she starts to understand the connections that her mind has tried to make throughout her life. As she falls deeper into the past, she needs to decide what path to take forward to ensure her daughter does not experience the same painful memories and associations that she has. <br/><br/>I really enjoyed this novel even though it was a different premise than what I have come to expect from Ford. The only reason that I did not give this 10/10 is that at times I struggled to remember the sequence of ancestry and how all of the female Moys were related."
Ashley Rowe
"Trauma, and family history can often times come hand in hand. And this unique novel takes us on a journey spanning over a century, and sharing each generation’s struggles, and healing process turns out to be both an intense journey as well as a lesson learned. Beautifully written, I absolutely recommend."
Ellie
