Book Review

Title: The Bonesetters Daughter

Author: Amy Tan
Year: Published in 2001
Setting: China and America
Main Characters:
Ruth: Is first generation Chinese-American; a self-sufficient woman who makes her living
as a ghostwriter for self-help books
LuLing Liu: Ruth's mother, emigrated to the U.S. shortly after the end of World War II.
Art Kamen: Ruth's long-term Boyfriend.
Plot/Summary:
The Bonesetters Daughter chronicles the stories of three generations of Chinese
women beginning with the Bonesetters Daughter, her daughter LuLing, and finally LuLings
daughter, Ruth who lives in present-day America, all intricately woven within the back-drop of
World War II and the invasion of China by the Japanese. The book itself is divided into a
prologue and three parts. The prologue and the third part are written from the perspective of
LuLing with the second and fourth parts written from Ruths perspective. The prologue is a short
introduction (only 6 pages) which serves to introduce LuLing to the reader, to insert
foreshadowing, and to set up the intrigue in their story: who is the Bonesetters Daughter and
what role is she to have in forging the mother-daughter relationship between LuLing and Ruth?
Part One of the story begins with the introduction of Ruth, who is a Chinese-American woman
working as a ghost writer and cohabiting with a man and his two teenage daughters. There is a
related plot line examining Ruths relationship with her partner, but for the most part Ruths and
LuLings (the Moms) tense and difficult relationship is described beginning with Ruths
childhood up to present day. In essence, LuLings history is shrouded in mystery and these two
women simply do not know or understand each other. The chapter ends with Ruth discovering
LuLings diary written in calligraphed Chinese characters prompting her to find someone to
translate the diary into English.
Part Two transitions into what is presumably being translated. That is, we are transported back
in time to LuLings and her familys history in Immortal Heart, China circa early 1900s. Tan
does a marvellous job of detailing the geographical, cultural, political, and historical context in
which LuLing was born. In Part Two, all is revealed in detail concerning LuLings lineage,
childhood, and early adulthood leading to her arrival in the United States, post-World War II.

At this point, in Part Three, the reader returns to Ruths perspective in present day U.S. As
LuLings story is uncovered by Ruth, she reaches new understandings concerning her mother
and thus becomes enlightened about her relationship with her mother and with her partner.

Reaction:
The development of the characters is so incredibly well done. Whether you like the
characters or not (and they are each deeply flawed), you can still empathize with them because
they are so rich in description. Similarly, Tan does an excellent job of vividly describing the
setting of the story so that you feel you are actually there experiencing the same things as the
characters. So, I do feel that the storytelling is very engaging. But, by the same token, I did
sometimes feel that some things dragged on to the extent that I was left wondering What is the
purpose of this paragraph? I found this to especially be the case with regards to the
descriptions of food. For example:
In the vegetable aisle, Ruth headed toward a bin of beautifully shaped turnips. They were each
the size of apples, symmetrical and scrubbed, with striations of purple. Most people did not
appreciate the aesthetics of turnips, Ruth thought as she chose five good ones, whereas she
loved them, their crunchiness, the way they absorbed the flavor of whatever they were
immersed in, gravy or pickling juice. She loved cooperative vegetables. And she loved turnips
best when they were sliced into wedges and preserved in vinegar and chilies, sugar and salt.
while the writing is beautiful and the narrative rich, I found the story itself to be underwhelming.
Further, I felt that the characters in the book were stereotypical to the extent that it made me
uncomfortable in some parts. But then, it was written by a woman whose parents were Chinese
immigrants, so I guess she would know! But, at the end of the day, the story was very slow to
develop I would call it a sleepy yarn of a story and I simply did not find it that memorable.