Secretly Cursing the Family (The Bonesetter's Daughter - Amy Tan)

Member Name: happybunny75

Product:	The Bonesetter's Daughter - Amy Tan
Date:	27/05/02 (1944 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Humourous and addictive narrative, Highly entertaining plot, Cultural insight

Disadvantages: Ends too soon

This is the second novel that I’ve read by Amy Tan and I’m beginning to realise that a pattern is forming.

I have previously read ‘The Kitchen God’s wife’ and now in ‘The Bonesetter’s Daughter’, Tan’s narrative again tells the story from both the perspective of an American woman and her Chinese mother. This format, I have discovered, is prevalent throughout most her novels.

Don’t be put off however, with Tan’s repetition of narrative and plots that encompass all her novels. ‘The Bonesetter’s Daughter’ is wholly unique from both her other novel that I’ve read and other fiction available on the market.

‘The Bonesetter’s Daughter’ tells the story of three generations of women. The first, Ruth was born and raised in America and lives with her partner and two stepdaughters. Her mother, LuLing, having been born in China, moved to the US in her twenties and married an American. The next generation of women that Tan includes is Precious Auntie, who was LuLing’s nursemaid when she was growing up in China.

The narrative alternates between Ruth’s concern for her elderly mother who seems to be showing signs of dementia and LuLing’s story of her past.

The novel opens with the vague confessions of LuLing, and immediately paves the way for a multitude of secrets that are gradually exposed throughout the narrative.

Within ‘The Bonesetter’s Daughter’ are a number of themes, which develop the novel and engages the reader into the story. The most prevalent is that of the relationship between mother and daughter, closely followed by differences in culture and superstition.

The relationship between Ruth and LuLing is rather strained and based purely on the ties of family. It appears to Ruth that there no similarities between her and her mother; they lead separate lives with differen
t cultural identities. Her mother being Chinese and Ruth being wholly American.

One of the most interesting aspects of the novel, is the exploration and presence of curses or superstitions. LuLing is convinced that a curse has been placed on the family; something Precious Auntie instilled in here when she was young. Tan’s analysis of curses is truly magnificent and the idea of the curse is central to the character's development, and shapes their lives in many ways. When LuLing’s first husband comforts her, his is the voice of reason “There are no such things as curses…those are superstitions, and a superstition is a needless fear. The only curses are worries you can’t get rid of”. And so, LuLing’s curse, or “needless fears” engulf her life until she reveals the secrets of her life to Ruth.

This is a complicated novel, told with simplistic ease. There are so many details and stories that entertain the reader that it is an addictive novel to read. I was again, amazed by Tan’s writing ability and her breadth of knowledge. What readers do realise from reading ‘The Bonesetter’s Daughter’ is the extraordinary nature of Chinese culture. LuLing’s story begins in 1920’s China, where the appropriate girls were groomed and grown up to be ‘picked’ to be good wives. It could be argued that this was much the same as Victorian Britain, however the women in China were merely subservient possessions where foot-binding was still the fashion.

I can highly recommend this novel both for its entertainment value and the many things that can be learnt of differing cultures, relationships and ideologies. Amy Tan brings a light humour into the idiosyncrasies of her characters, and especially with the Chinese women she writes about, but in a purely affectionate way.

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