The Many Daughters of Afong Moy: A Novel by Jamie Ford
Publisher: Atria Books
Genre: Historical Fiction
Format: Kindle
No. of Pages: 384
Date of US Publication: 2 August, 2022
My Rating: 5 Stars
My Thoughts
I received an invitation to read an advance copy of this book and I accepted because the concept struck me as fascinating, given what I’ve read on generational trauma. I’d never read a Jamie Ford novel before; to be completely honest, I hadn’t heard of his writing. I am so thankful to Atria Books for reaching out to me with this one, because by the second chapter, I was completely hooked (I’m now looking forward to reading Ford’s previous novels).
Every so often as you read a book, you find yourself feeling that this one is really going to be something amazing. I trust that in reading, because it’s never once steered me wrong, and I felt that from the beginning of this novel. This story was glorious. Beautifully written and a fully intriguing plot.
Strongly recommended.
eARC kindly provided by Atria Books and NetGalley. Opinions shared are my own.
Description
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.
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