Play Book Tag discussion

This is a very good book club discussion book. Posting it here because I read it last month. So far behind with my reviews!

The Many Daughters of Afong Moy - Jamie Ford
4 stars

It’s a fascinating concept, the possibility of inherited trauma. Imagine the overwhelming burden of carrying not only personal scars, but also the pain of our ancestors. (I’d definitely prefer to believe that we inherit their resilience.) Jamie Ford has provided the historical Afong Moy with a series of female ancestors who carry the burden of her sad, lonely story.

I liked the women in this book. They were brave, strong and creative. They were also troubled, abused, and fragile. Their lives were a template for more than a century's worth of racial and gender discrimination. It was a bit depressing as the book hopped from one storyline to another. In the mid-twenty first century Dorothy Moy forges a psychic connection with her ancestors in an effort to relieve the accumulated trauma. I was grateful for the positive uptick of the magical realism which allowed Dorothy to repair the past while resolving her personal issues. It did require some substantial suspension of disbelief.

This book suffered from my ongoing split-timeline fatigue. The multiple storylines of this book are actually presented expertly, connecting to each other in ways that are interesting. Ford created a series of very believable female characters. I just don’t think the book was improved by the disjointed timelines. It would have made just as much sense if it was told mostly sequentially. Although there is a good audiobook production with multiple performers, I stayed mostly with the printed text. (I found one or two of the voices annoying, not really the voice actors fault.)

I thought of this book again when I read about research on inherited trauma. (A group of rats were shocked while exposed to a particular scent. Their subsequent offspring showed stress/avoidance reactions to the scent. Control groups did not.). I’ll have to check where I read this. I think it was in A More Just Future: Psychological Tools for Reckoning with Our Past and Driving Social Change by Dolly Chugh.

I really enjoyed this book. The little bit of magic/sci fi worked for me, and I liked the characters. I’m with you on mixed timeline fatigue. I didn’t mind it as much here, thanks to the number of audio actors, but I still has to rewind to remind me of the succession of mothers and daughters.

I’m reading One Hundred Years of Solitude with my book club right now. It uses a linear timeline, but so many of the characters have the same name I’m still losing track of characters.

Ford does mention that research in his author's notes. I think it might become a wonderful vehicle for novelists, something like Shrodinger's cat. ;)

Jgrace wrote: "Ford does mention that research in his author's notes. I think it might become a wonderful vehicle for novelists, something like Shrodinger's cat. ;)"

Oh no, don’t get me started on Schrödinger’s cat! My pet peeve one year was the large number of books that used the cat example to explain quantum theory - or just for fun. Schrödinger didn’t even like that example. I’ve come to view it with some affectionate familiarity now.

I think your prediction is good. I think we’ll see inherited trauma- and was it telomeres ?- in a wide range of books.

NancyJ wrote: "Oh no, don’t get me started on Schrödinger’s cat!..."
I am right there with you. Most novelists using the concept don't even understand it, as is obvious from their usage.

I did enjoy this one very much. I think it is my second favorite of Jamie Ford's catalogue.

I love that cat. It doesn't matter to me that author's don't understand the concept. Neither do I. I usually makes me laugh or at least smile when the cat, living and dead, turns up in a book.

On the other hand, the epigenetic transfer of trauma has the potential to add emotional depth and social commentary to novels. I can see it becoming popular. Sadly, it also lends itself to more and more split time plots.

Jgrace wrote: "I love that cat. It doesn't matter to me that author's don't understand the concept. Neither do I. I usually makes me laugh or at least smile when the cat, living and dead, turns up in a book. ..."
It is fun to see the cat in whatever form. I'm a science nerd so I like it to be used correctly, but I need to get over it, lol.