Joan Is Okay

by Weike Wang

"Joan is a thirtysomething ICU physician at a busy New York City hospital. The daughter of Chinese parents who moved to America to secure the American dream for their children, Joan is intensely devoted to her work, happily solitary, successful. She does look up sometimes and wonder where her true roots lie: at the hospital, where her white coat makes her feel needed, or with her family, who try to shape her life according to their own cultural and social expectations. Once Joan and her brother, Fang, were established in their careers, their parents moved back to China, hoping to spend the...