Joan Is Okay

From the award-winning author of Chemistry comes a new book that is funny, poignant, and piercingly incisive about a marvellously complex woman who is just herself.

Working at a busy hospital in New York City, Joan is an ICU doctor in her thirtys. Born to Chinese immigrants who moved to the US to give their kids the American dream, Joan is a successful, lonely woman who is deeply committed to her profession. Occasionally, she looks up and wonders where her actual roots are: with her family, who attempt to mould her life according to their own cultural and social standards, or in the hospital, where her white coat makes her feel wanted.

Her parents returned to China with the intention of living there for the remainder of their life when Joan and her brother, Fang, were well-established in their professions. However, a series of events send Joan hurtling out of her comfort zone just as her hospital, her city, and the entire world are forced to deal with a health crisis more devastating than anyone could have imagined when her father passes away unexpectedly and her mother returns to America to be with her children.

Joan Is Okay is a deceptively simple yet incredibly powerful book filled with witty banter. It addresses topics that are incredibly relevant to many people, such as being Chinese-American at this time, working in medicine at a high-stakes environment, finding one's voice in a dominant culture, being a woman in a male-dominated field, and maintaining independence within a close-knit family. Above all, however, it's a depiction of a very unique lady whose unexpectedness leaves you reeling.