The Bonesetter’s Daughter

Written by Amy Tan

Narrated by Pik-Sen Lim and Lorelei King

A stunning reissue of a bestselling, classic novel from the author of The Joy Luck Club and The Hundred Secret Senses.

LuLing Young is now in her eighties, and finally beginning to feel the effects of old age. Trying to hold on to the evaporating past, she begins to write down all that she can remember of her life as a girl in China. Meanwhile, her daughter Ruth, a ghostwriter for authors of self-help books, is losing the ability to speak up for herself in front of the man she lives with. LuLing can only look on, helpless: her prickly relationship with her daughter does not make it easy to discuss such matters. In turn, Ruth has begun to suspect that something is wrong with her mother: she says so many confusing and contradictory things.

Ruth decides to move in with her ailing mother, and while tending to her discovers the story LuLing wrote in Chinese, of her tumultuous life growing up in a remote mountain village known as Immortal Heart. LuLing tells of the secrets passed along by her mute nursemaid, Precious Auntie; of a cave where dragon bones are mined and where Peking Man was discovered; of the crumbling ravine known as the End of the World, where Precious Auntie's bones lie, and of the curse that LuLing believes she released through betrayal. Like layers of sediment being removed, each page unfolds into an even greater mystery: Who was Precious Auntie, whose suicide changed the path of LuLing's life?

Set in contemporary San Francisco and pre-war China, The Bonesetter's Daughter is an excavation of the human spirit. With great warmth and humour, Any Tan gives us a mesmerising story of a mother and daughter discovering together that what they share in their bones through history and heredity is priceless beyond measure.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Release date: Jan 7, 2010
• ISBN: 9780007360291

Amy Tan

Born in the US to immigrant Chinese parents, Amy Tan failed her mother's expectations that she become a doctor and concert pianist. She settled on writing fiction. Her novels are The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God's Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, The Bonesetter's Daughter, Saving Fish from Drowning, and The Valley of Amazement, all New York Times bestsellers. She is also the author of a memoir, The Opposite of Fate, and two children's books. Her work has been translated into 35 languages.

Reviews for The Bonesetter’s Daughter

[Seana McGee · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The prose is so often a happy surprise. Helping us discover ever new facets of human, okay feminine, frailty and grandeur. Often laugh-out-loud hilarious.

The narration was astounding. Just top-drawer acting. (Although in my experience, I must say, bratty whining is not synonymous with the babbling of a child.)

[janestevenson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Really good, very interesting and wide-ranging book.

[enemyanniemae · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've read several books by Amy Tan. There is a traditional Chinese mother/modern Chinese-American daughter conflict theme that is consistent. Mom's backstory is sad and daughter knows none of her mother's history. (more later)

[stien_11 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I very much enjoyed this book, particularly the interplay of the various characters who find themselves enmeshed across lifetimes. This is a fascinating fictional perspective on the buddhist concept of reincarnation. I like the fact that one of the bad guys gets reincarnated as a dog.

[ladybug74 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have got several of Amy Tan's books in my stacks of TBR books, each of which I have picked up just because it sounded interesting to me. This is the first of her books that I have actually read, though. I really did enjoy it. Lu Ling was both sad (due to her dementia) at times and funny. I enjoyed the sections of the book that were narrated by Ruth, but enjoyed the part narrated by LuLing the best.

[jennyk81 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"The Bonesetters Daughter" is a great story about a daughter taking care of her aging mother and discovering her mother's, and estranged grandmother's past, and understanding way her mother is the way she is and even gains a better understanding of herself. It is a great book, the story will stick with you for a long time, and make sure you give your mom a hug when you are done reading it.

[chmessing · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I think I may have liked this one better than One Hundred Secret Senses. Similar gut-wrenching feel but a bit more relatable for me.

[carrielatimer · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

So much tragedy, but I laughed and I laughed!! A lot of wit through out this novel.

[catsinstacks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful book. I loved every page.

[fishheaven · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the first book I've read by Amy Tan. It called to me from the shelf in the local bookstore with the title drawing my attention first. From the very beginning of the book Tan captures you and draws you in to this wonderful story about mothers, daughters, and their connectivity through generations of time.This book is written in three parts with the first focusing on and narrated by Ruth. Ruth is experiencing many different stresses in her life, much like anyone else she has all sorts of work demands, household headaches, and family obligations. She has a strained relationship with her mother, LuLing, and each have difficultly in understanding the other. The second part of the book focuses on LuLing and her relationship to a woman called Precious Auntie. It is a telling of her family history. The third part turns back to present time with Ruth returning as our narrator. After Ruth has read the pages written by her mother (part 2), she has a better understanding of who her mother is, how she has has an effect on her as a woman and how she relates to others.This is one beautiful, well-written and captivating story that I would recommend to all mothers and daughters out there. "Think about your intentions, Bao Bomu says. What is in you heart, what you want to put in others."

[shieldwolf_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The first time Amy Tan - The New York Times best-selling author of The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God's Wife, and The Hundred Secret Senses - learned her mother's real name as well as that of her grandmother was on the day she died. It happened as Tan and several sidblings - unified by a need to feel helpful instead of helpless - gathered to discuss their dying mother's past and prepare her obituary. Tan was stunned when she realized she had not known her own mother's birth name. It was just one of several surprises. In the act of writing a simple obituary Tan came to realize there was still so much she did not know about her. Soon afterwards she began rewriting the novel she had been working on for five years. Inspired by her own experiences with family secrets kept by one generation from the next, and drawn from a lifetime of questions and images, the result is The Bonesetters's Daughter. The story begins when Ruth Young, a ghostwriter of self-help books, comes across a clipped stack of papers in the bottom of a desk drawer. Young has been caring for her ailing mother, LuLing, who is beginning to show the unmistakable signs of Alzheimer's disease. Written in Chinese by LuLing years earlier, when she first started worrying something was wrong with her memory, the papers contain a narrative of LuLing's life as a girl in China, and the life of her own mother, the daughter of the Famous Bonesetter from the village of Xian Xin - Immortal Heart - near the Mouth of the Mountain. Within the calligraphed pages Ruth finds the truth about a mother's heart, what she cannot tell her daughter yet hopes her daughter will never forget. With her latest novel Amy Tan explores the changing place one has in a family of names that were nearly forgotten. Just as she herself has done, Tan shows Ruth finding the secrets and fragments of her mother's past - its heartfelt desires, its deepest wounds, its most profound hopes - and with each new discovery reconfiguring her assessment of the woman who shaped her life, who is in her bones. The extent to which Tan's newest novel mixes pure fiction with elements of autobiography is made clear by Tan herself. In acknowledgements of The Bonesetter's Daughter she writes, "The heart of this story belongs to my grandmother, its voice to my mother."

[workgman · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

am always looking forward to a new amy tan, i will stop what i am reading at the time to get going on her newest but this book didn't capture me like the rest.

[fliss88_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

There are three main characters in this book, all women, who have a story woven about them that is full of sad secrets. At times I found the story hard to read, as I discovered the truth behind the Dragon's Bones, and the truth behind LuLing's memory of Precious Auntie. The story crosses back and forth between America and China, the past and the present. Although very tragic at times, the humour and love between Ruth and her mother LuLing came through to give me an extraordinarily uplifting story. This was my first Amy Tan book and it wont be the last.

[amateras_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In The Bonesetter's Daughter, Amy Tan draws the heartbreaking, complex picture of the relationship between Ruth Young, the middle-aged Chinese-American daughter of LuLing. LuLing's story is woven into Ruth's life just as quickly and mercilessly as it is threaded into the reader's life. It is a sad tale involving dragon bones, World War II China, love, death, and acceptance. Ruth assists in the writing of self-help books; on top of her problems with the authors she helps, she is increasingly finding difficulty with her home situation - Art, her boyfriend, is a divorcee with two daughters, and her struggle to understand her mother's words is apparent. LuLing has given her a chance to understand her, however; Ruth receives a diary of sorts describing - well, she isn't sure. She holds on to it for a long time as her Chinese is terrible, and it's not until she finally submits it to an expert to translate that she realizes LuLing's signs of Alzheimer's aren't quite as bad as she suspects. She discovers with the reader the truth of LuLing's past, the significance of ghosts, and the beauty that can come from healing past scars. It's hard to formulate a real review of this book; there is so much going on in it - I haven't even summarized the half of it. It is divided into three parts. The first describes Ruth in a bit of detail including what she's dealing with and her concern for her mother. The second is the translation of LuLing's diary as presented to Ruth by the translater who, we discover in the third part, has fallen in love with LuLing through her words. It's not quite as miraculous as it seems; there is depth in the details presented and one easily feels he/she is struggling through World War II era China right along with LuLing and her family. The third part illustrates Ruth's reactions to the tale, and her decision of what to do with her mother. This is an engrossing book which I barely found time to put down. The characters drew me in more than anything else. Ruth reminds me a bit of myself - nitpicky, a little unreasonable, but extremely concerned for those she loves. LuLing shows a strength of will and heart that is almost incomparable by any of the other characters in my life; I imagine it would be an honor to know such a formidable woman. Art, despite Ruth's misgivings, is an ever-supportive partner. GaoLing, LuLing's sister (of sorts), shows admirable confidence in her sister's ability to survive; she also sticks by her through and through without hesitation. It was a quick read, but by no means a light one. I found myself crying several times throughout this book, maybe in part because of the river-flow of smooth, eloquently chosen words, but I think it is mostly because I was sincerely torn when the characters were. I felt for them. I felt like I was with them. As Ruth finds her voice in the course of this book, so I also felt like I had found something unrecognized previously within me. At the beginning, she is frustrated, feeling useless as one able to speak but unable to speak for her mother - in her defense? Or perhaps she is upset because she cannot find the words to tell her mother how she feels. Once she has read LuLing's story, however, she finds her voice once again. She speaks out to GaoLing, to Art, to every influence in her life she feels is wanting. Her voice returns as her strength deepens, and I had the impression this is because she discovered a part of her that was once lost. She never knew, of course, LuLing's struggles, but by learning the truth she has gained bits and pieces of her own past, as well as her mother's and grandmother's, thus puzzling together a whole Ruth who feels more complete to face the changes coming in her life. Her voice returns, and I felt full again too. The Bonesetter's Daughter is an illustrious painting of the lives within. Layers reveal hidden intricacies of each character - like a special cream-filled surprise. I enjoyed this book, but it hasn't encouraged me to read other books by the author. This is my first Amy Tan book, unlike most other readers who started with Joy Luck Club (I haven't even seen the movie!), but as beautifully executed as it was, it wasn't memorable. It's been four days since I've finished it, but I sadly can't think of very much else to say in my review. I loved it while I was reading it. I was inside it (as I mentioned); I felt I was part of the story. If I had reviewed it immediately, this post would probably be much longer and full of details pertaining to ink-making and hard work, Ruth and LuLing's voices, mother-daughter relationships, love in times of war, and who knows what else! But I quickly forgot all the details I wanted to impress in relation to these themes; even now, I can only recall that these were themes, but I wouldn't be able to give a detailed account. It was an extremely good book and I would recommend it to anyone, but only under the expectation that the joy won't last. This is not one of those books that will become a "favorite book;" you won't cry for the characters after the last page is turned. You'll have a fond memory of it, knowing that you really loved it, but you won't be able to say why.

[mrsdwilliams · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another beautiful mother/daughter story from Amy Tan. The Bonesetter's Daughter is told in two voices--Ruth Young, a ghostwriter who has a hard time communicating with the people she loves, and her mother, LuLing, a Chinese immigrant suffering from Alzheimer's disease.As Ruth reads her mother's amazing journals, she is finally able to understand her and their relationship.

[mumfie_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

It was interesting but not original. The middle part of the story, depicting the mother's childhood in China was more convincing than the daughter's modern day difficulties with her partner and ageing mother.

[moniquereads · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Amy Tan has a gift of writing about the mother and daughter experience. One that transcends race or culture. The Bonesetter's Daughter is about the experience of a daughter coming to terms with her mother's illness and past. Just like the characters in The Joy Luck Club Ruth and her mother LuLing have a difficult relationship. Mostly do to the fact that the mother grow up in China and her daughter was raised in America. It is also a story of a daughter learning to appreciate her mother and culture a little more.The Bonesetter's Daughter is a lot like The Joy Luck Club. It has fewer main characters. But Ruth and LuLing's relationship is almost exactly like that between the mothers and daughters featured in The Joy Luck Club. There is friction because Ruth does not understand her mother. Her mother is from China and after moving to America held on to a lot of her Chinese Culture. LuLing has been in the United States for almost 50 years yet doesn't speak or understand English that well. LuLing is also secretive of her past. All these situations lead to a very strained relationship that leave both Ruth and LuLing feeling unappreciated and misunderstood by one another.The story is told from two points of view. The first person point of view is told by LuLing when she is describing her experience in China. The third person point of view in current times. It is the first person point of view that is the most catching. LuLing voice is powerful. The imagery and language that Tan uses to describe what she (LuLing) went through was fantastic. It expressed not only what the character was going through but the myths and beliefs that are part of Chinese culture. The strength in the story lies in the first person narrative of LuLings story.The one major draw back with the story is that there are a lot of similarities between The Joy Luck Club and The Bonesetter's Daughter. Ruth and LuLing's characters and circumstances could have been switched with any of the mother-daughter pairs in The Joy Luck Club and they would not have been out of place. It makes theme and relationship between them appear recycled and therefore the outcome is not a surprise.Also, there has been criticism online that Tan has a tendency to use stereotypes in her writing. I noticed that in this novel but that could be because I was looking for it.Pros: Imagery, Storyline, CharactersCons: Formula, Stereotypes, PredictableOverall Recommendation:Highly recommended with a precaution: If you have read The Joy Luck Club (or maybe any of her others works) the style and formula are easy noticeable and takes away some of the impact of the story.

[florenceart · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is my first Amy Tan novel, and probably the last. It's OK but I was disappointed. The story is interesting and the characters believable. I should have been moved, but I wasn't. I'm not sure why.

[katie_h_11 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ruth is a 40-something American woman who has come to the realization that her Chinese immigrant mother, LaoLing, is losing her memory as a result of dementia. LaoLing, who realized that her memory was leaving her before her daughter did, painstakingly penned her life story and secrets to share with her daughter. Much of the novel is LaoLing's memories of her life and experiences in China. Two mother-daughter stories are presented in the multigenerational, bi-continental family story, that of LaoLing and Ruth, as well as that between LaoLing and her own mother. Past and present were woven together nicely, and the emotions associated with memory loss are explored thoroughly. The novel did not quite live up to The Joy Luck Club, even though the themes were similar, but I still enjoyed it. Tan continues to have a witty style of writing that is heartfelt as well as humorous.

[elizabethchapman · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Bonesetter's Daughter has a number of compelling sequences, but overall I found it a disappointment. The first and last sections of the novel take place in the modern day and look at the life of a Chinese American woman living in San Francisco and working as a ghost writer. The middle section of the novel tells the story of her mother and her mother's life in China before she immigrates to the United States. I found the middle of this novel by far the most successful, although perhaps that is because I don't have enough personal knowledge of China in the late 1930s and 1940s to detect flaws in fact and tone.The chapters depicting life in the present felt like well-trodden ground and gave few new insights into the modern world. They made good sense within the narrative structure of the novel, but the relationship issues seemed warmed over and the work conflicts weren't compelling to me.I'm giving The Bonesetter's Daughter two and a half stars rather than two (or even one and a half) because I appreciate author Amy Tan's willingness to take on difficult subjects close to her own life. But if you are interested in exploring Tan's work, don't start with this novel.

[lynnb_64 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is my first read of Amy Tan's work, and I won't be rushing out to buy more of her novels. I enjoyed The Bonesetter's Daughter, especially the second part narrated by Ruth's mother LuLing Young. But, I found this story about a modern woman learning about her ageing mother's past interesting but not remarkable. I also found the ending contrived with the main character (Ruth's long-time partner Art) suddently acting very much out-of-character.

[maiadeb · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing read reminding us all how little we truly know about another's life...

[ldvoorberg · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The main story, the mother's memoir, is embedded in the daughter's story of dealing with her mother's onset of dementia. The memoir is haunting and captivating, and worth the read even if you don't like the rest of the story. The mother is cared for by Precious Auntie whose mouth is full of ugly burns and prevents her from talking. Precious Auntie's story is tragic, but I liked her.

[arelenriel · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is one of my favorite Amy Tan books. Tan has a wonderful grasp of what it is like to grow up a second generation immigrant in this country. She also has a very unique perspective on the mother daughter relations ship that is much more truthful than how many writers portray mother daughter relationships.

[readerspeak_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I don't remember being as impressed by this book as with others by Amy Tan.

[df5b_sarao · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Amy Tan's, The Bonesetter's Daughter, is a wonderful book that will make you want to read it again. It tells the story of a mother and her daughter, fighting to understand one another and live peacefully. A curse seems to be upon them but it is Ruth's job to find out if it's true. Ruth reads about her mother's(LuLing) life in China and how she came to know the Bonesetter's Daughter, or her nursemaid, also known as Precious Auntie. LuLing struggles to maintain her memories of her past and remember her mother's name. I liked this book because it was a great story about mothers and daughters. Also, I enjoyed the culturistic aspect of the book.

[talbin_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Bonesetter's Daughter, by Amy Tan, tells the story of three generations of women. In the present day, Ruth Young discovers her mother, LuLing Young, has Alzheimer's disease. LuLing has already given Ruth a manuscript written in Chinese titled, Things I Know Are True, which Ruth has not read. Then, as she is cleaning her mother's house, Ruth discovers anther manuscript - Things I Must Not Forget. Ruth has these translated, and LuLing's story comprises the main portion of The Bonesetter's Daughter. LuLing's story about growing up in rural China while being taken care of by Precious Auntie, going through WWII and the cultural revolution, and finally moving to America to find a new life, is wonderfully told. However, the first and third parts, about Ruth and LuLing in present-day America, were somewhat disjointed. I found it especially difficult to connect the present-day LuLing to her younger self - the woman that LuLing becomes is almost a caricature of a harping, overbearing mother, but there is almost no evidence of this woman in the younger LuLing.

[elsieb_4 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read this a few years ago; liked it a lot. I found the mother/daughter relationship touching, not cliched. Keep meaning to read more of Amy...

[kaulsu · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Tan is a phenomenal writer. But I did not care for her characters in the first half and last quarter of the book. The daughter was whiney and needed some serious counseling by a family therapist. Of course, the mother and aunt, and for that matter, the entire clan, needed counseling, too! I like to read for enjoyment...and for the most part, I did not find this family enjoyable.So having said that, I must reiterate that Tan is wonderful if one can separate the writer from her words.The narrator for the daughter (Amy Tan, I think) was perfect for her but probably added to my feeling that she was a whiney, immature person. The second narrator, Joan Chen, I think, read the second part with maturity. Since I am not sure who read what, I will just say that whoever narrated the end of the book had a *terrible* Indian accent, and should not have even tried!

[kattepusen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Formulaic, yet addictive...I almost feel bad criticizing this book for being overly formulaic when I actually enjoyed parts of it so much. Yes, this is typical Amy Tan fare, which includes mother-daughter angst, immigrant culture, and old Chinese family secrets dusted off and gradually exposed through some engrossing storytelling. The story shifts between present-day San Francisco where we follow Ruth Young and her struggles with her Chinese-born mother, LuLing, and pre-WW2 rural China where we are treated to sumptious descriptions of old customs and superstitions surrounding LuLing's family origins. As with Tan's other books, it is when she takes the reader back in time to China that the story really shines. When the plot returns to America, it almost feels like a complete let-down. In present time, Ruth's mother, LuLing, suffers from dementia, and as a result she has written down her life story in Chinese for her daughter to read. Ruth, who is not fluent in written Mandarin, hires someone to translate the story, and it is through this translation we are treated to the memoirs of LuLing. The bonesetter is her grandfather, and the daughter actually refers to LuLing's real mother - or Precious Auntie as she is called. This tragic title character is at the center of the story both before and after her death, and the injustices done to her by her adversaries as well as her own family are heartwrenching. The dynamic between LuLing and her "sister" GaoLing is also well portrayed, and the sisterly jealousies as well as loyalties are well characterized. The family business aspects, caligraphy descriptions and the ink-producing process are fascinating to read. All the superstitions and ghosts that envelope every character in China, however, are the most satisfying parts. There are numerous subplots and transitory characters, both in China and in San Fransisco. There are the two American missionaries along with Sister Yu, who run the orphanage where LuLing spends several years both as student and teacher. There are the British mother and daughter and their talking parrot in Hong Kong where LiuLing as a maid learns English. There are the archeologists who are excavating the Peking Man - and the one who wins LuLing's heart. The subplot involving Dottie and Lance from Ruth's childhood, however, albeit interesting, seemed to fizzle out without a proper conclusion. Finally, the main male characters in the story were quite one-dimensional (saintly or evil) - but this is rather typical in Tan's writing. The end is too contrived in its desperate attempt to provide some sort of closure between everyone. Also, the translator's role becomes a bit too sentimental. You leave the book wishing to read more about China, which is actually a good feeling. All in all, this is a comforting hammock read without profound implications.