Dreams of Joy by Lisa See

On impulse, a young woman (Joy) runs away to the “home” country of her parents which happens to be China in the 50s because of a secret about her birth that she learns after her father’s suicide. The secret: Her mother(May) is her aunt, her aunt (Pearl) is the mother that she has known and loved as such, your birth father is an artist and revolutionary for the current China, and both women seemed to have loved him.  She feels betrayal and at the same time unwanted. Her “Tiger” nature takes over and she chooses to run away from what she knows in search of her birth father and what she may contribute in her support of the China that she thinks that she knows.  

Please allow an aside here. As in real life, it is not the genes that always make a mother and you can have multiple women who mother you in different ways throughout your life. If you have seen the movie or read the book “The Secret Life of Bees” by Sue Monk Kidd, you may be able to relate to my opinion.

The draw for me in this book is of course, the historical significance of what was termed as the “new” China in the 1950s with their control of communication, restricted mobility, and the censor of information, all woven into this novel.  Segments of citizens became part of communal living which is has purposes of propaganda and what was considered by the initial inhabitants as a freedom lifestyle. The inhabitants work from can-to-can’t (way past can’t) even during the famine because they are told too, and without revolt.  Some of the ill family members are buried alive to save on food rations since they can no longer contribute to China, there is even “swap food” which is a baby swap so that surviving family members do not cannibalize their own child.  They believe the lies about what is happening outside the commune. Starvation does make one compliant.

The characters are both forgettable and unforgettable. The ending which includes the escape plot along with the unexpected last minute drama is well written and the story ends as it should.  Bottom line, the characters are well developed and yes, the characters “find themselves” and Pearl discovers that her true country is the USA and that it is her choice to make after all.

This book follows the story that began in the book “Shanghai Girls”, also by Lisa See, which I would also recommend.  In this story continued from above:

The mother (Pearl) forges to China and has no intention of returning without her daughter.  For the mother, it is not the China from which she escaped and in every regard, is worse.  Even though China born, she immigrated to the US and therefore is always under suspicion and will struggle like her daughter.  She has her own identity crisis with which to deal.

Commune living for Joy was voluntary, includes famine, a “red” husband who treats her poorly which includes infidelity,  and yet she is considered totally at fault by your adopted country, the in-laws, and fellow peasants, even those who have befriended you.  They really have no choice but to victimize you or they will be subject to the same. What you thought you knew is so wrong and on every level.  How will you escape, can you leave before your baby daughter becomes “swap food”,  can your mother and aunt find you in time or will you starve to death in the commune, in a country that you decide is not yours after all?

The mother and father orchestrate an escape using his notoriety as an artist and it his art that is almost their undoing. The aunt works on the ploy to get them to Hong Kong which allows for the ultimate escape. 

Having read both “Shanghai Girls”, “Dreams of Joy” and “On Gold Mountain”, it put life into what it was like in China and the how/why/whatit takes to get and choose to stay in this country.  The choice comes at great cost and I am not just talking about money.  The sacrifice made cannot be ignored or measured.