Book Review: Joan is Okay
Book Title: Joan is Okay
Author: Weike Wang
Purchase: Amazon
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Description from Goodreads:
A witty, moving, piercingly insightful new novel about a marvelously complicated woman who can’t be anyone but herself, from the award-winning author of Chemistry
Joan is a thirtysomething ICU doctor at a busy New York City hospital. The daughter of Chinese parents who came to the United States 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 by their own cultural and social expectations.
Once Joan and her brother, Fang, were established in their careers, her parents moved back to China, hoping to spend the rest of their lives in their homeland. But when Joan’s father suddenly dies and her mother returns to America to reconnect with her children, a series of events sends Joan spiraling out of her comfort zone just as her hospital, her city, and the world are forced to reckon with a health crisis more devastating than anyone could have imagined.
Deceptively spare yet quietly powerful, laced with sharp humor, Joan Is Okay touches on matters that feel deeply resonant: being Chinese-American right now; working in medicine at a high-stakes time; finding one’s voice within a dominant culture; being a woman in a male-dominated workplace; and staying independent within a tight-knit family. But above all, it’s a portrait of one remarkable woman so surprising that you can’t get her out of your head.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Joan is Okay starts slow but surprised me with how quickly Joan as a character gripped me; I would sit down to read a few pages and hours would pass in the blink of an eye. This is definitely more a quiet character study and less a plot-driven novel. I thought I might lose steam with the lack of plot—but no, Wang’s writing style is insanely readable, her characters complex and intriguing. At the story’s end, I’m left with a mixture of feelings, the strongest of which is gratitude at being granted this window into Joan’s life.
Joan is a Chinese-American doctor in NYC who loves her job and spends all her free time working because the hospital is the place she feels most accepted and in control. This puts a strain on her relationships, particularly with older brother Fang.
I lost my brother the day he decided to become my parent.
When her father suddenly passes away, the hospital (forcefully) recommends she take six weeks of bereavement leave, and so she finds herself spending more time with her family just as COVID-19 enters the world.
This book is an exploration of identity, culture, family dynamics, and gender stereotypes. I found myself learning a lot about Chinese culture, discrimination against Asians in the US past and present, and the sense of othering Joan constantly experiences as someone born American and whose outward appearance mean people identify her as Asian first.
But to China, I rarely went, nor did I consider myself too Chinese. The moment those words left my mouth, I wondered why I said them. What was wrong with being too Chinese? Yet I’d always felt that something was.
In the US, this often translates to being seen as an outsider and comes with a whole host of preconceived stereotypes, while when she visits family in China, she’s seen as an American, and therefore also an outsider.
Proud to be an American, a feeling that I lacked but also a phrase that I didn’t think applied to me.
Joan is a direct, honest character. She struggles with social dynamics and can rub people the wrong way, but a lot of those same people never take the time to understand where she’s coming from. Many people in her life have expectations for her that don’t align with what she wants for herself. Of these people, I’m most intrigued by Joan’s changing relationships with her neighbor Mark and her immediate family.
Mark aggressively insinuates himself into Joan’s life and at first, I couldn’t determine if I was meant to see him in a positive or negative light—like a puckish agent of change, or the overbearing, socially tone-deaf annoyance I perceived him as. He does surprise me at one point with his reflections on Joan’s mandatory leave:
Someone else’s well might be another person’s not-well. To force everyone to follow a standard set of mannerisms, set invariably by a majority group and ruling class, was wrong.
At this point, I’m thinking maybe he sees things a little bit more clearly than I at first realized, but then he just keeps pushing and pushing his own preferences on Joan until she finally snaps. I am so proud of her for ultimately standing up for herself and setting boundaries, and also relieved Mark never turns into a romantic interest.
On a more uplifting note, Joan and her mother cautiously wade into a new sense of kinship as adult women. When her mom comes to the States for an extended trip, the two women end up spending more time together than either expected—first talking casually on the phone and then graduating to secret hang-outs, then not-so-secret hang-outs. I can’t help but laugh when Joan’s mom gets snippy with Joan, especially since Joan always sees right through her and never takes her bait. Joan has a grace with and empathy for her mom—and vice versa—that’s lovely to see play out and helps the two build a stronger relationship.
Meanwhile, Joan’s interactions with her brother and his wife Tami are painful. Fang and Tami should most relate to Joan’s experiences as Chinese-American, yet they might as well live on another planet.
Soon, the mind-boggling rich big brother becomes the patriarch of the family on this continent and assumes he knows best.
Joan and Tami in particular have very different ideas of a woman’s role—Tami keeps pressuring Joan to settle down and become a mother, while Joan just wants to be accepted as a career-oriented doctor.
Wouldn’t it be cool if someday you became a senator’s wife? (The famed MRS degree, because in practice, a female brain is worth nothing. Four lobes of the cerebrum, and I have sometimes imagined one of mine labeled RAGE.)
As much as I disagree with Tami’s views, it’s interesting to see the juxtaposition between the two women. Tami feels like Joan looks down on her for giving up her career to raise three children, while Joan feels Tami looks down on her for not wanting a family. This feels particularly unfair because Joan tries so hard to empathize with everyone else and she never forces her opinions on anyone, but she rarely receives the same respect.
It’s strange—it feels like very little happens in this book, but also SO MUCH happens, particularly within Joan’s inner world. Joan grows as she questions what she wants out of life, what would truly make her happy. The world changes due to COVID-19, though the disease and response to it isn’t a huge focus. Overall, this is an impressive novel that I’d recommend to everyone, one that explores important and highly relevant themes, and introduces unforgettable characters.
