I’ve just finished reading The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan. As with The Joy Luck Club, I was very impressed and found myself lost in the realism and emotion of the story.

As with many of her books, Tan brings in the elements of the mother-daughter relationship, and old China versus new life in the United States. She also puts a lot of her personal experiences into the plot and relationships. The daughter, Ruth, has always had to translate for her mother. When her mother was confused about situations in her new country, Ruth, being an American from birth, usually understood more fully. Ruth often resented the position she was in and the embarrassment of seeing how her mother doesn’t fit in. Even in adulthood, these feelings have carried over. She is proud of her Chinese heritage, but she sometimes feels uncomfortable when she has to bring her mother into public. Ruth finds herself avoiding visiting her mother, and feels guilty, especially when she later realizes she has Alzheimer’s disease.

On top of these fairly normal second-generation immigrant feelings, Ruth has brought a lot of her mother’s fears and superstitions into her own adulthood. Her mother, having lost many loved ones in her life, is afraid to show love too strongly. If you show what you value, someone might want to take it away. She is also afraid of ghosts and curses that her mother drilled into her from a young age. Ruth’s mother is a afraid of death, and of a family curse that Ruth does not understand yet almost believes.

Ruth has many unanswered questions about her mother’s words and actions through the years. She never fully understands them until she recovers and translates a set of notes that her mother wrote for her in Chinese when she realized her memory was failing. Finally she understands all the strange beliefs her mother has, and why she is afraid of ghosts. Ruth gains a new respect for her mother and their ancestors, and she is able to forgive. She is also able to understand herself and let go of the old fears.

This is a beautiful work, heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time. The relationships and characters of the story seem so real, probably because Tan was experiencing some similar circumstances while writing it (her mother was suffering from Alzheimer’s and died while the book was written). This is a must-read for mothers, daughters, anyone caring for an Alzheimer’s patient, Amy Tan fans, people interested in Chinese culture, and just anyone who enjoys great storytelling.