Lisa See On Her Novel "Dreams Of Joy," The Four Aphorisms That Inform It, And Mother-Daughter Relationships

You can’t throw a stick at Asian American Literature these days without hitting the complicated world of the mother-daughter relationship. The subject should win a Pulitzer for birthing record numbers of female characters while somehow celebrating the patriarchal society that traditionally stands in opposition.

Enter Lisa See, whose tour touting her latest work, Dreams of Joy, the sequel to her New York Times bestseller Shanghai Girls, has kept her busy in fifteen states addressing over forty five events. One of many stops brought her to RJ Julia this past Sunday.

See spoke candidly and casually to a small, cramped audience of fans—most of whom were women—about the nature of her latest endeavor. The book, she explained, is based on four aphorisms, which she fashioned as a map in telling how the book came to fruition.

The Dead Can Claim the Living. In preparing for Dreams, See traveled to the Anhui province of China with celebrated author, Amy Tan. There she researched the impact of a People’s Republic of China at the cusp of Mao Tse-tung’s Great Leap Forward.

Suffering Will Overcome Attachment by Wearing It Out. See used her characters to address some of the preconceptions, misconceptions, and traditions of China at the time of the Great Leap Forward. (“When I told my mom I was going to be writing a follow up to Shanghai Girls, she said, ‘Well, that’s going to be the shortest book you’ve ever written,’” See joked. “You know, Pearl and Joy get off the plane, they’re taken out back and shot, the end.”)

Mothers Suffer, Children Do What They Want. In Dreams, See evaluated and redefined motherly love on the tenets of sacrifice, courage, and loyalty. Though the novel is not, admittedly, an autobiographical retelling, it charts the emotions surrounding See’s inner life. The author humorously recounted the anxieties of planning her son’s wedding, to the delight of the audience.

There is soft happiness and sadness and deep sadness and happiness. Borrowing a quotation from Lin Yutang, See explained that there are nuances in the emotionality of her novel, but assured the audience that it ends on a happy note. “I hope when you get to the end of Dreams of Joy that you find yourself in tears,” said See. “Not in sadness for a change, but in the celebration of the triumph of happiness over sadness; in the knowledge that family matters, that it’s the only thing that matters; and that there truly is goodness and joy and happiness in the world.”

Good things have come to See since she wrapped her novel. Fox Searchlight Films acquired the rights for her 2005 novel, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, and made it into a movie featuring Chinese actresses Bingbing Li and Vivian Wu, South Korean actress Gianna Jun, and Australian actor Hugh Jackman. The film debuts in select cities in July.

“I’ve never been to a book signing before,” said Kim Anderson, who attended the event with her mother Diane, the two often swap book ideas. “I really enjoyed the author. She was great—she can speak as well as she can write.”

Dreams of Joy is a complicated mess masquerading as a serene story. Most of its twisting comes in how the novel addresses the issue of identity, specifically how its characters find home amidst conflicting worlds (generational, token, gendered, normative, or ethnic). 

“I think every child in high school, every adult in college, and every man and woman should read this book,” said Mary Healey, while waiting in line to speak to the author. “I think it’s probably the most powerful book I’ve read in a long, long time."

This story was revised June 27 at 2:40 p.m. and 6:02 p.m. to clarify Hugh Jackman's role in the upcoming movie.