The Many Daughters of Afong Moy: A Novel

Dorothy Moy, Washington's former poet laureate, channels her dissociative episodes and mental health struggles into her art. When her five-year-old daughter begins exhibiting similar behavior and remembering things from their ancestors' lives, Dorothy fears her child is destined for the same depression that has marked her own life. She pursues an experimental treatment designed to mitigate inherited trauma. Through this treatment, Dorothy connects with past generations of women in her family: Faye Moy, a nurse in China serving with the Flying Tigers; Zoe Moy, a student in England at a famous school with no rules; Lai King Moy, a girl quarantined in San Francisco during a plague epidemic; Greta Moy, a tech executive with a unique dating app; and Afong Moy, the first Chinese woman to set foot in America. As painful recollections affect her present life, Dorothy discovers that trauma is not the only thing she has inherited. A stranger has loved her through all of her inherited memories across each time period. Dorothy must determine whether she can break the cycle of generational trauma and abandonment to find peace for her daughter and love for herself.