Unwilling to see Asian American women silenced beneath the noisy discourses of feminists, cultural nationalists, and Eurocentric historians, Wendy Ho turns to specific spoken stories of mothers and daughters. Against reductive tendencies of scholarship, she places her own conversations with her China-born grandmother and her U.S.-born mother and her own readings of other Asian American women writers. She finds in the writings of Maxine Hong Kingston, Amy Tan, and Fae Myenne Ng not only complex mother-daughter relationships but many-faceted relationships to fathers, family, community, and culture. Always resisting the simplistic explanations, In Her Mother's House brings Asian American women's experience as mothers and daughters to the forefront of gender and ethnicity.
A woman has brain surgery that lasts for fourteen hours, far longer than her surgeon expects. She survives the operation, but the first sentence she speaks after she gains consciousness is spoken in a dialect that nobody in the family understands. Like everyone in Hong Kong, the woman's family speaks Cantonese. Some older members also use Hakka, a dialect of the Guangdong Province. So when the woman starts talking in Chiu Chow, her family is worried. Is it possible for someone to lose the ability to speak a language she's been using for fifty years after undergoing brain surgery? The woman's daughter is not convinced this is simply a side effect of surgery, and decides to investigate the cause behind the mystery. Through her detective work, she discovers a chapter of her mother's life that has been hidden from her family. She learns from her mother's older brother that his sister spent her early childhood and adolescence in Chiu Chow, away from her family to escape war and starvation. The story's theme is about making life choices. What happened in this woman's past that is now blocking her language ability? Her daughter intends to find out the buried secrets in the fascinating novel Mother's Tongue: A Story of Forgiving and Forgetting. About the Author Susanna Ho teaches full-time at a university in Hong Kong. This is her first novel. Publisher's website: http: //sbprabooks.com/SusannaHo
Frances, a Chinese-American student at an academically competitive school in San Francisco, has always had it drilled into her to be obedient to her mother and to be a straight-A student so that she can go to Med school. But is being a doctor what she wants? It has never even occurred to Frances to question her own feelings and desires until she accidentally winds up in speech class and finds herself with a hidden talent. Does she dare to challenge the mother who has sacrificed everything for her? Set in the 1980s.
Be B.L.E.S.S.E.D.! That is what Sharon Jaynes teaches as she focuses on being a Proverbs 31 mother. Today's over-committed, harried housewives and mothers sorely need practical suggestions and loving encouragement. Don't go it alone. You need a friend who has been there. Sharon Jaynes is the friend you've been looking for. Her heart is warm and her wisdom is straightforward.
This "graceful, captivating" (New York Times Book Review) story from a singular new talent paints a portrait of grief and the search for meaning as told through the prism of three generations of her Chinese American family—perfect for readers of Helen Macdonald and Elizabeth Alexander. Kat Chow has always been unusually fixated on death. She worried constantly about her parents dying---especially her mother. A vivacious and mischievous woman, Kat's mother made a morbid joke that would haunt her for years to come: when she died, she'd like to be stuffed and displayed in Kat's future apartment in order to always watch over her. After her mother dies unexpectedly from cancer, Kat, her sisters, and their father are plunged into a debilitating, lonely grief. With a distinct voice that is wry and heartfelt, Kat weaves together a story of the fallout of grief that follows her extended family as they emigrate from China and Hong Kong to Cuba and America. Seeing Ghosts asks what it means to reclaim and tell your family’s story: Is writing an exorcism or is it its own form of preservation? The result is an extraordinary new contribution to the literature of the American family, and a provocative and transformative meditation on who we become facing loss. AN NPR BOOKS WE LOVE 2021 PICK * A TIME MUST-READ BOOK OF 2021 PICK * A NEW YORK TIMESNOTABLE BOOK OF 2021 * A HARPER'S BAZAAR BOOK YOU NEED TO READ IN 2021 * A TOWN & COUNTRYBEST BOOK OF 2021 PICK * A FORTUNE BEST BOOK OF 2021 PICK
“Johnson eloquently conveys the absolute devastation Ana experiences at what feels like the ultimate betrayal by the person she loves most” – Readers’ Favorite. A powerful and heart-wrenching story of one woman’s struggle with polygamy After spending her life fantasizing about her dream husband, Ana believes she has finally found the one when she meets Alec Coleman. He is charming, witty, and has looks to die for. The two feel an instant attraction, and it seems that Ana’s dreams have finally come true. But when Alec rekindles a relationship with his former ex-girlfriend, Ana’s perfect life soon spirals into chaos. As a convert to Islam, Ana discovers her new religion allows men to take multiple wives. Ana thinks nothing much of it until Alec uses force and influence to draw her into a polygamous marriage. Grappling with betrayal feelings and unsure how she can share her husband with another woman, Ana learns why polygamy is called “the mother of all pain.” Gritty, poignant, and deeply moving, The Silent Tears of Polygamy is an eye-opening novel that explores the challenges that countless women in polygamous marriages struggle with daily. Inspired by a true story, this book provides a unique and memorable insight into a first wife’s feelings and thoughts battling with jealousy and insecurity. A cautionary tale, Ana’s story reveals how women can maintain their identity and take back control of their lives, one prayer, one voice, and one grueling day at a time. Scroll up and grab your copy today What readers are saying: “Not only did Robin manage to word feelings in ways in which I never could, but she also managed to show the secrets of the little box all first wives keep closed up inside their heads” – Reviewer. “It was an absolute page-turner, extremely well-written. Every detail was so clear and comprehensible” – Reviewer. “When I was reading Robin’s book, I couldn’t put it down until I was done. My husband didn’t know what to do because I would be crying but still refuse to stop reading” – Reviewer.
