Amy Tan
Monday, September 16, 2024
7 – 8:30 p.m.
Synopsis
In memories that rise like wisps of ghosts, LuLing Young searches for the name of her mother, the daughter of the Famous Bonesetter from the Mouth of the Mountain. Trying to hold on to the evaporating past, she begins to write 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 and his two teenage daughters. None of her professional sound bites and pat homilies works for her personal life: she knows only how to translate what others want to say.
Ruth starts suspecting that something is terribly wrong with her mother. As a child, Ruth had been constantly subjected to her mother’s disturbing notions about curses and ghosts, and to her repeated threats that she would kill herself and was even forced by her to try to communicate with ghosts. But now LuLing seems less argumentative, even happy, far from her usual disagreeable and dissatisfied self.
While tending to her ailing mother, Ruth discovers the pages LuLing wrote in Chinese, the story of her tumultuous and star-crossed life, and is transported to a backwoods village known as Immortal Heart. There she learns of secrets passed along by a mute nursemaid, Precious Auntie; of a cave where “dragon bones” are mined, some of which may prove to be the teeth of Peking Man; of the crumbling ravine known as the End of the World, where Precious Auntie’s scattered bones lie, and of the curse that LuLing believes she released through betrayal.
Like layers of sediment being removed, each page reveals secrets of a larger mystery: What became of Peking Man? What was the name of the Bonesetter’s Daughter? And who was Precious Auntie, whose suicide changed the path of LuLing’s life? Within LuLing’s calligraphed pages awaits the truth about a mother’s heart, what she cannot tell her daughter yet hopes she will never forget.
(From the publisher.)
Reading Group Discussion Questions
1. Bones constitute an important motif in The Bonesetter’s Daughter. What is the significance of the book’s title? How does breaking a bone change Ruth’s life and her relationship with her mother? What importance do bones hold for LuLing and Precious Auntie?
2. Each year, Ruth makes a conscious decision not to speak for one week. Why does she elect to go silent? In which ways does this self-imposed muteness mirror the challenges faced by both her mother and by Precious Auntie? How does Ruth find her voice as the novel goes on?
3. From childhood onward, Ruth is locked in a constant struggle with her mother. In which ways does her behavior echo LuLing’s rebellion against her own mother? How do these conflicts have violent consequences, both physical and emotional?
4. To frame the novel, Tan uses the device of a story within a story. How is this effective in bringing past and present together?
5. How does LuLing come to life in her own words, and how is that vantage point different from Ruth’s point of view? How is the LuLing that springs to life in her manuscript different from the figure Ruth grapples with on a regular basis?
6. LuLing begins her story, “These are the things I must not forget.” Why is she so adamant about remembering—and honoring—what has come before? In contrast, what is Precious Auntie’s attitude toward the past? In which ways does she recast prior events, thus concealing the truth from LuLing? How does Ruth grapple with what she uncovers about the history of her family, and what it means for her future?
7. Ruth is shocked to learn that her aunt, GaoLing, is not her mother’s real sister. How does the relationship between the two women defy theadage that blood is thicker than water?
8. How does the dynamic between LuLing and GaoLing evolve as the book unfolds? What emotions does LuLing feel most strongly toward GaoLing, and vice versa? Why?
9. Although GaoLing speaks English fluently, by contrast, LuLing never learns to communicate effectively in the language, instead relying on Ruth to be her mouthpiece. How is the spoken word depicted in this novel? Is it more or less important than the written word? How does LuLing communicate in other ways—for example, artistically?
10. How does the concept of destiny shape the lives of both Precious Auntie and LuLing? How does each woman fight against the strictures of fate? In the modern world, does destiny hold as much weight? Why or why not?
11. Both Precious Auntie and LuLing lose love in tragic ways. How is romantic love depicted in The Bonesetter’s Daughter? How does Ruth’s concept of love differ from that of her grandmother’s and mother’s? Does LuLing’s conception of love evolve over time?
12. LuLing is introduced to Western ideas and religion while living and working in an American-run orphanage. How does she reconcile these different ideologies with the beliefs she holds? Does her belief in her family’s curse fade or blossom within the confines of a different societal framework?
13. How does LuLing forge a new life for herself in America? In which ways does she remain constrained by the past, and in which ways does she triumph over it?
14. Which of GaoLing’s characteristics enable her to adjust to America with more ease than her sister? Which make it more difficult?
15. “Orchids look delicate but thrive on neglect.” In which way does this idle musing by Ruth apply to the other relationships in the novel, including her own with Art and his children?
16. Ruth has lived with the specter of Precious Auntie her entire life. How does her mother’s obsession with Precious Auntie affect Ruth? Do you view Precious Auntie’s presence next to Ruth in the last scene of the book as a figurative or a literal one? Why?
17. Based on her manuscript alone, the translator of LuLing’s story becomes fascinated with her. What about her story, in your opinion, is so alluring and transcendent? How does her fading mind open her to new experiences?
18. As LuLing loses her memory, how does her story become more clear to Ruth? How does Tan explore the transience of memory in The Bonesetter’s Daughter?
19. Ruth works as a successful ghostwriter. How is this profession significant, both literally and figuratively, in her communication with her mother and with the world around her? How has her professional life opened Ruth to the world around her, and how has it shut her off?
20. What significance do names and their nuances have in The Bonesetter’s Daughter? Why is it so important that Ruth discover her family’s true name? When Ruth discovers what her own name means, how does that realization change her relationship with LuLing?
(Questions issued by publisher.)
Additional Book Club Resources
Other Works by Amy Tan
Novels
• The Joy Luck Club (1989)
• The Kitchen God’s Wife (1991)
• The Hundred Secret Senses (1995)
• Saving Fish from Drowning (2005)
• The Valley of Amazement (2013)
Children’s books
• The Moon Lady, illustrated by Gretchen Schields (1992)
• The Evil Maris Claussen Yapper of eternity, illustrated by Gretchen Schields (2020)
• The Chinese Siamese Cat, illustrated by Gretchen Schields (1994)
Selected Nonfiction
• Mother (with Maya Angelou and Mary Higgins Clark, 1996)
• The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings (2003)
• Where the Past Begins: A Writer’s Memoir, (2017)
• Transcendent Kingdom (2020)
• “Bad Blood” in The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story (2021)
If You Liked The Bonesetter’s Daughter, may we recommend…
A Children’s Bible, Lydia Millet
Home for Erring and Outcast Girls, Julie Kibler
Sing, Unburied, Sing, Jesmyn Ward
The Island of Sea Women, Lisa See
The Mountains Sing, Nguyen Phan Que Mai
The Nickel Boys, Colson Whitehead
Firekeeper’s Daughter, Angeline Boulley
A Woman Is No Man, Etaf Rum
The Last Nomad, Shugri Said Salh
The Impossible City, Karen Cheung
Links of Interest for Your Book Club Discussion
Official Website
On Facebook
On Instagram
The New York Times, “Talking to Ghosts”
Harper’s Bazaar, “The Resilience of Amy Tan”
New York Times, “You Don’t Take Dictation, You Find the Truth,” Cheryl Strayed In Conversation with Amy Tan
IndieWire: Amy Tan Talks Depression, Success, and Creativity in New PBS Documentary (2021)
Los Angeles Times, “Amy Tan Journeys From Novelist to Naturalist Without Leaving her Backyard”
VIDEO: NYC Bird Alliance, “The Backyard Bird Chronicles: A Fireside Chat with Amy Tan”
VIDEO: KQED, Amy Tan In Conversation