The Bonesetter's Daughter

This past weekend I started reading my second outside reading book, The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan. Ruth's mother is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in the book, the same disease I have been studying in my research lab at the University of Kentucky. I have only seen the research component of the disease, never the effect that it has on families that have a relative suffering from Alzheimer's. I value the memories I possess and the people that are part of my life. I can't imagine what it would be like to gradually forget these things. Ruth's mother makes the decision to record her previous life, long before the disease wipes her memory, creating a blank page in her brain. Her story outlines how she became the mother and sister that she currently is to Ruth and Gaoling. It goes back to her origin as a baby, born out of wedlock after her father is killed on the wedding day of her parents. Her father’s family takes the mother and child in to their home after Ruth’s mother agrees to allow the oldest sister in the family to claim Ruth as their own. The families in China at the time seem to care just as much about their perceived appearance as families today in the United States. A lot of people find their worth in money, while in China they find their identity in their family pride. In the United States it has become acceptable to have a child with a man that isn’t your husband. In fact, there are many teenage pregnancies and the media has sought to glamorize this situation, but in China it is an embarrassment. It is interesting to see the differences in culture while reading the book.