12 Best Books Celebrating Women Writers of the Asian Diaspora
Maxine Hong Kingston, Photo © Michael Lionstar/Jenny Zhang, Photo © Jenny Zhang/Celeste Ng, Photo © Kevin Day/Han Kang, Photo © Park Jaehong/Hanya Yanagihara, Photo © Jenny Westerhoff
From legendary greats like Amy Tan and Maxine Hong Kingston to vibrant emerging voices like Laura Chow-Reeve, the literary canon could not be what it is today without the bold truth and brilliance of women writers of the Asian diaspora. Whatever the genre, their words dismantle historic misconceptions and erasures, placing their voices and narratives at the center rather in the proverbial margins. Through storytelling, each of the women on this list offer readers a dynamically distinct perspective on the way tradition and family can define a person and how embracing (or resisting) the past can set you free.
Perhaps one of the most evocative voices of her generation, Jenny Zhang’s short story collection fearlessly examines what it means to come of age as a young woman defined by two cultures. Set in Bushwick, Queens, and Shanghai, Zhang’s perceptive humor, heart, and honesty depict the interior world of adolescence in a vivid and radically new way. The heroines of Sour Heart aren’t predictable or easy to contain. They’re passionate, impulsive, and self-aware. This collection is a vibrant portrait of young women discovering who they are, who they’ve been, and who they want to become.
In her latest book, the highly celebrated bestseller Amy Tan revisits her past, tracing the steps that led her toward storytelling. Coupling childhood experiences alongside excerpts from her personal journals where Tan mulls over her doubts and limitations as a writer, Where the Past Begins is a raw and relentlessly earnest meditation on creativity, vulnerability, and memory. Like all of Tan’s books, the pages of this memoir are teeming with wisdom, hope, and compassion.
Maxine Hong Kingston, the living legend who penned The Woman Warrior in ’76, explores the way time can alter one’s perspective on life. A memoir-in-verse, I Love a Broad Margin to My Life allows Kingston’s inner poet to shine — each line portrays a life defined by storytelling. With breathtaking insight, Kingston unpacks the personal, political, and philosophical factors that have shaped her life as a feminist, activist, and writer. It is an arresting and striking account on the power of autonomy.
The Last Illusion is a soul-shaking modern retelling of an age-old myth. Porochista Khakpour’s spin on a tale from the Shahnameh is an intimate and heart-wrenching story about belonging and coming-of-age centered around the novel’s protagonist Zal, a bird-like boy whose appearance makes him an outsider in his homeland. Split between Iran and New York City, The Last Illusion transports readers into a familiar yet enchanting landscape where misfits find kindred spirits and even love, despite the dark strange world that surrounds them. Khakpour’s second novel is the perfect remedy for those anxiously awaiting the release of her next book.
Celeste Ng’s engrossing debut Everything I Never Told You documents the impact of a teenage girl named Lydia’s untimely death in Ohio during the ’70s. The daughter of a mixed-race family, Lydia’s death sets in motion a series of irrevocable events, leaving those that mourn her passing to reevaluate their own paths in life while simultaneously attempting to uncover the mysteries surrounding her tragic end. Emotionally rich and stirring, Ng’s first novel is an enjoyable companion to this year’s award-winning Little Fires Everywhere.
In the dark yet gripping follow up to her 2013 debut, Hanya Yanagihara confronts readers with the malaise of four undergraduates whose daily defeats and personal shortcomings threaten to consume them as they claw their way towards achieving their dreams of fame and wealth. Yet as each of Yanagihara’s protagonists attempt to reach for their aspirations, they’re confronted with their respective metaphorical ghosts. A jarring portrayal of the downside of ambition, A Little Life humanizes the far too often overlooked toll the pressure to be successful can have on the psyche.
Lisa Ko’s award-winning novel The Leavers begins with a disappearance. Ko’s deservedly buzzworthy novel follows the American son of a single mother Chinese immigrant who fails to return home from her job at a nail salon. In the wake of her absence, Deming is forced into a new life as “Daniel,” the new name he’s given by his suburban (and white) caregivers. As time passes, Deming is unable to shake the weight of his mother’s disappearance and whether or not she’s still alive. As he searches for answers, the narration shifts, recounting his mother’s harrowing journey as a single mother and as an immigrant. Ko’s ability to succinctly couple both experiences side-by-side results in a captivating tale about family, love, and the meaning of home.
Originally published in 1982, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s undercelebrated hybrid text channels the voices of Joan of Arc, Demeter, Persephone, and Korean revolutionary Ryu Gwansun through a series of images, found documents, and musings. It is an impassioned examination of language, origin, and the irreversible consequences of colonization. Comprised of nine sections named after each of the Greek muses, Dictee is a unflinchingly complex yet necessary narrative.
Han Kang’s delectably disturbing first English-language novel takes a deceptively benign detail and turns it on its head. In The Vegetarian, Yeong-hye is plagued with brutal dreams that are so vivid that she decides to cut meat completely out of her diet. Kang expands this seemingly mundane choice into an all encompassing meditation on female agency, the pervasive threat of misogyny, and the carnivorous nature of intimacy. As haunting as Kang’s most recent novel Human Acts, The Vegetarian is an undeniably timely tale.
Patty Yumi Cottrell’s stunning debut Sorry To Disrupt the Peace centers around Helen, a 30-something New Yorker, as she comes to terms with her adoptive brother’s suicide. Shortly after learning about his death, Helen heads back to her hometown of Milwaukee in search of answers. The switch in scenery forces Helen to grapple with the very reasons why she left the midwest and if the looming metropolis of NYC has lead to fulfillment or merely distraction. An emphatically universal narrative, Cottrell’s first novel will make you question what defines you and challenge you to cherish those closest to you.
The Border of Paradise opens with the childhood memories of a severely depressed David Nowak. The now parentless heir to a successful piano company, David struggles to come to terms with the death of his father and being rejected by the woman he thought he could build a life with, David sells his family’s company and heads to Taiwan. Once there he crosses paths with Jai-Hui Chen, whose spontaneity initially calms David’s deepening neuroses. As the two grow closer, Wang’s narrators build a life for themselves, yet are unable to shake the ghosts of their pasts. A multi-generational portrait of a family shaped by secrets, Wang’s novel is so unyieldingly brave that even its darkest moments warrant empathy.
Mira Jacob’s debut The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing is an enthralling portrayal of a family caught at a crosswords between their past and their present. Through Amina, the once ambitious photojournalist, readers witness the debilitating health of her father Thomas, her mother Kamala’s denial, and the lingering wound of her brother Akhil’s suicide. An inarguably tender commentary on intergenerational trauma, the American dream, and legacy, Jacob’s remarkable novel and equally memorable characters are a reminder of the enduring bond of familial love.
Originally published at www.signature-reads.com on December 26, 2017.
