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 First edition cover | |
| Author | Amy Tan |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Random House, Inc. |
Publication date | February 19, 2001 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) & Audio CD |
| Pages | 400 pp |
| ISBN | 0-399-14685-7 |
| OCLC | 44883576 |
| 813/.54 21 | |
| LC Class | PS3570.A48 B6 2001 |
The Bonesetter's Daughter, published in 2001, is Amy Tan's fourth novel. Like much of Tan's work, this book deals with the relationship between an American-born Chinese woman and her immigrant mother.
The Bonesetter's Daughter is divided into two major stories. The first is about Ruth, a Chinese-American woman living in San Francisco. She worries that her elderly mother, Lu Ling, is gradually becoming more and more demented. Lu Ling seems increasingly forgetful, and makes bizarre comments about her family and her own past.
The second major story is that of Lu Ling herself, as written for Ruth. Several years earlier, Lu Ling had written out her life story in Chinese. Ruth arranges to have the document translated, and learns the truth about her mother's life in China.
Much of the novel, like Tan's previous work, is based on her relationship with her own mother, and her mother and grandmother's life stories. The first-edition cover photo is an image of Tan's grandmother Gu Jingmei, taken in about 1905.[1][2]
- ^ Vanessa Jones, "Her Mother Was Her Muse". Chicago Tribune, March 7, 2001.
- ^ Amy Tan, The Opposite of Fate. Putnam, 2003.