de Jamie Ford
A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick
The New York Times bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet returns with a powerful exploration of the love that binds a family across the generations in "one of the most beautiful books of motherhood and what we pass on to those that come after us" (Jenna Bush Hager, Today).
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 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 the 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. Can Dorothy break the cycle of pain and abandonment to finally find peace for her daughter and love for herself? Or will she end up paying the ultimate price?
"For Jamie Ford fans both old and new, The Many Daughters of Afong Moy is an unmitigated pleasure" (Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author) and a lyrical love story unlike any other.
A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick
The New York Times bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet returns with a powerful exploration of the love that binds a family across the generations in "one of the most beautiful books of motherhood and what we pass on to those that come after us" (Jenna Bush Hager, Today).
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 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 the 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. Can Dorothy break the cycle of pain and abandonment to finally find peace for her daughter and love for herself? Or will she end up paying the ultimate price?
"For Jamie Ford fans both old and new, The Many Daughters of Afong Moy is an unmitigated pleasure" (Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author) and a lyrical love story unlike any other.
Critiques-
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June 20, 2022
Ford (Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet) explores in his intriguing if melodramatic latest the connections between seven generations of women, beginning with the historical Afong Moy, noted as the first Chinese woman to immigrate to the United States. In 2045, in a storm-besieged Seattle, Afong’s descendant Dorothy is having hallucinations from the points of view of women from the past. Dorothy seeks help from a Native American practitioner of the experimental “science” of epigenetics, which posits that it’s possible to inherit memories. The novel weaves scenes from the lives of other Moys—including a nurse in China in WWII, a student at the radical Summerhill boarding school in Great Britain, a young woman crossing the Pacific, and more—with scenes of Dorothy’s increasingly frantic attempts to hold onto some sort of sanity as a monsoon hits Seattle and her mind shifts between the present and the distant past. Ford sometimes bogs this down with explanations of epigenetics, and some might roll their eyes at the pat ending, but the individual accounts of the women in the family can be gripping. There’s some good storytelling here, but this doesn’t quite stand out amid an increasingly full shelf of multigenerational climate epics. Agent: Kirstin Nelson; Nelson Literary Agency. -
When Dorothy Moy, portrayed by Jennifer Lim, realizes that the visions causing her daughter to act out are versions of her own inherited memories, she decides to do something about it. Even author Jamie Ford gets in on the act in this audiobook, narrating a note on epigenetics and how it explains the parallels between the daughter and generations of women in Moy's family. Other cast members help listeners follow the complex story by differentiating the characters and their many inherited traumas. Characters living in varying historical settings include Lai King, who is trying to escape the Black Death in 1892, portrayed by Sura Siu, and Afong Moy, America's first female Chinese immigrant, who is living and performing in a sideshow, portrayed by Emily Woo Zeller. E.J.F. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
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March 1, 2023
Ford's (Love and Other Consolation Prizes) latest traces the ways in which the genetic inheritance of trauma reverberates throughout seven generations of Chinese women. The book begins with Dorothy Moy, who lives in 2045 San Francisco. Dorothy is plagued by depression and haunted by memories that are not her own. When Dorothy's daughter, Annabel, begins to experience similar visions, Dorothy engages in experimental epigenetic therapy, exploring techniques that allow her to capture and manipulate memories inherited from her forbears. Each chapter focuses on one of Dorothy's women ancestors, starting with Afong Moy, who was horribly abused when she traveled as a sideshow curiosity in the 1830s. Afong's suffering was passed down through generations of women, where a single fatal decision, guided by the women's collective ordeals, causes each pain and despair. A host of talented narrators--Ford himself, joined by Jennifer Lim, Cindy Kay, Mirai, Natalie Naudus, Sura Siu, Emily Woo Zeller, and Nancy Wu--honor the women's stories with unique voices, creating compelling scenarios for each. VERDICT Ford's many fans will be delighted by this spellbinding psychological saga. Perfect for listeners who enjoy the works of Isabel Allende and Lisa See.--Joanna M. Burkhardt
Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
