In Gish Jen’s new novel, Bad Bad Girl, she imagines her mother’s life through a fictional account of her upbringing in China in the 1930s, all the way up to her death in America in 2020.
But the novel transforms into more of a non-fictional account of her life once Jen recalls her own memories of her mother, a complicated project due to her mother’s abuse and withholding of love. Nonetheless, Gish Jen creates a well-rounded—and at times, empathetic—character whose voice she still hears.
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Bad Bad Girl by Gish Jen was published by Knopf.
Suzanne Perez reviewed Bog Queen by Anna North, which was published by Bloomsbury.
Elisabeth Plumlee-Watson of Loganberry Books in Shaker Heights, Ohio, mentioned these books in this episode:
- The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister
- The Girls by John Bowen
- Eros the Bittersweet by Anne Carson
Mark Statzer and Torin Andersen - engineers
Lu Anne Stephens & Haley Crowson - editors
Haley Crowson - producer
Karlee Cooper - marketing coordinator
Beth Golay - host
