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The Many Daughters of Afong Moy: A Novel
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.
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.
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Community Reviews
â⦠I brought the candle you brought the torchâ¦â
âDonât change. Instead change the world.â
The story gives us pieces of 7 ladies' lives. It all starts with Faye Moy, serving in the war for The Flying Tigers, as a nurse where she encounters John Garland. He has her picture in his pocket and her writing on the back, âfind me.â Little does she understand how he has her photo because she had never met him before. Or has she? Perhaps in a previous life as Dorothy Moy?
We are taken into the lives of the following: Afong Moy, Lai King Moy, Zoe Moy, Fei-jin (Faye) Moy, Margaret (Greta) Moy, Dorothy Moy and finally, AnnaBel Lee.
We see each of the ghosts that haunt each of the ladiesâ lives and how the trauma, stemming from Afong Moy, travels down through her DNA to future generations, all remembering things and making decisions based on the past traumas that are layered on by each generation. We finally have the last person which is AnnaBell, daughter of Dorothy Moy. Will she be able to break free of the vicious ghosts that haunted her generations before?
â ï¸Triggers: Mental illness, suicidal ideation, sexual abuse, physical abuse, multiple instances of medical trauma, exploitation based on race and culture, and occasional ethnic slurs. Additionally, there is an emotionally intimate relationship between a teenager and her teacher.
This book is haunting and will grab hold of your emotions.
Book grew on me as I read it. I had to flip back and forth quite a bit to keep the characters straight. Very cleverly written, would make a good mini series.
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