The Many Daughters of Afong Moy by Jamie Ford
Summary
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.
Book Settings: Baltimore, Seattle
Bellevue College: Dorothy, Poet Laureate, was let go from Bellevue after one of her episodes.
Smith Tower: Penthouse, suited to Louis, where he and Dorothy lived in Seattle.
International District: Despite the city’s installation of a light rail, Dorothy felt a remembrance of horse-drawn carriages from a century earlier.
Canlis Restaurant: Louis could dine with clients, point to the Seattle Skyline and say “you see that tall building, the one reflection the suet, I have a place at the very top”.
Pike Place Market: Louis and his mother took Baby-bel causing a panic for Dorothy.
The Fat Hen: Louis and his mother took Baby-bel causing a panic for Dorothy.
Woodland Park Zoo: Louis and his mother took Baby-bel causing a panic for Dorothy.
Baltimore Athenaeum (original location): Over 3,000 ppl came to see Afong perform.
Carroll Hall Baltimore: Afong sang her heart out to a sold out crowd dreaming of home and Yao Han.
Peale Museum: Afong’s landmarks on the journey to the next show location.
Washington Monument: Afong would keep note of landmarks in case she could one day escape and be free.
Knee High Stocking Company: Trendy speakeasy where Greta’s co-workers celebrated her accomplishment.
Olympic Iliad: In Seattle Center, Greta and Sam had their first date, a picnic.
Loupe Lounge (Space Needle): Carter convinced Greta to come for a dinner to discuss work.
Green Lake Park: Sam and Greta enjoyed the walking path around the lake.
Blank Space Cafe: Bubble teas for Greta and Sam.
Phnom Penh Noodle House: Cambodian food restaurant where Greta and Sam would frequent.
Seattle Public Library: Sam and Greta enjoyed time here.
Third Place Books: Sam planned to buy a novel and read it to her.
Reviews
"One of the most beautiful books of motherhood and what we pass on to those that come after us."
- Jenna Bush Hager, Today
"Fans of The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet rejoice: Jamie Ford has done it again. The Many Daughters of Afong Moy is a searing and vibrant epic of generational love, trauma, and healing. In his trademark poignant prose, Ford breathes Afong Moy and her descendants to life with dimension and power. This is a book that will stay with readers and reshape how they engage with their own lives and legacies. To read it is to be transformed--and to transcend."
—Qian Juile Wang, New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Country
"The Many Daughters of Afong Moy is simply transcendent. The first Chinese woman to set her lotus-bound feet in America is destined to set off a ripple through time and space, as her descendants struggle with her legacy of loss and loneliness. Themes of karma, courage, love, and motherhood weave timelessly through eight generations of women seeking to find balance in an increasingly tempest-racked world. Jamie Ford has outdone himself!"
—Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code