Reviews

Review: The Many Daughters of Afong Moy

August 25, 2022 /

Author: Jamie Ford
Published On: August 2nd, 2022
Publisher: Atria Books
Genre: Historical Fiction, Magical Realism
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Synopsis:

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.

The book is truly one of the most fascinating reads I’ve picked up this year. Told from the PoVs of seven female descendants of the Moy family line, this book spans hundreds of years, following each woman through pivotal moments of her life. Through it all, we come back to Dorothy Moy, who’s living in 2045 and on a journey to uncover her inherited trauma.

I’ve been falling head-over-heels in love with family epics, and this one was certainly no exception. This story was exhilarating, eye-opening, and absolutely devastating; Ford did not shy away from the horrific, gruesome things that these women faced throughout their lives, be it sexual assault, homophobia and misogyny, or emotional abuse.

Given that this was told in alternating perspectives, there were some chapters that I enjoyed more than others. I particularly loved Zoe’s story, who attended Summerhill (which is, apparently, a real place?!) in the 1920’s. Her particular story absolutely broke my heart, and made me crave a YA boarding school novel (taking recommendations, please!) I also, of course, found Afong Moy (who’s based on the first Chinese woman to come to America) to be an incredibly interesting, if not heartbreaking, character.

Aside from simply following multiple generations of Moy woman throughout history, the other piece to this puzzle is the idea of inherited trauma and epigenetic research. You guys, I am SO intrigued. The whole idea that we’re able to inherit trauma from our ancestors is not only incredibly terrifying, but also a field of medicine that seems to break past the fourth wall of my mind into “inconceivable” territory. 

My one gripe with this book is that I wished Ford had included some more concrete examples of how each woman was carrying the trauma of those that came before her. Instead, it almost seemed as though each woman was simply struggling with uncanny bad luck, rather than their life outcomes being a result of their innate actions. 

Overall, this one gripped me from start to finish and will be one that I think about for weeks to come. Ford has such a way with storytelling, and the overall scope of this one is truly inspired. I picked this one up from Book of the Month, and have absolutely no regrets!

Rating: 

Have you read The Many Daughters of Afong Moy? What did you think?

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