Ruth Young, a ghostwriter in San Francisco, struggles to communicate with her mother, LuLing, whose behavior becomes increasingly erratic due to dementia. To bridge their silence, Ruth translates a manuscript LuLing wrote years ago in Chinese. The narrative shifts to the 1920s in a remote village near Peking, chronicling LuLing’s childhood as the daughter of a famous bonesetter. The story details the production of traditional ink, secrets regarding a disfigured nursemaid named Precious Auntie, and the social upheaval in China prior to the Second World War.
Readers interested in the complexities of mother-daughter dynamics and immigrant experiences choose this book for its focus on multi-generational communication gaps. It appeals to those looking for depictions of how historical trauma and cultural displacement influence familial relationships. The reader walks away with a detailed understanding of the tension between ancient Chinese traditions and modern American life, along with a perspective on how uncovering ancestral history can resolve long-standing resentment between living family members.
- Published
- 2001
- Language
- EN
