Joan Is Okay

Joan is Okay (2022) is Chinese American author Weike Wang’s second novel. Wang’s first novel, Chemistry (2017), won the PEN/Hemingway Foundation Award, was longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize, and earned Wang a spot as an honoree on the National Book Foundation’s “5 under 35” list. Both novels feature female protagonists pursuing careers in demanding STEM fields (chemistry and medicine) as they navigate the at-times difficult landscape of life in a Chinese American immigrant family. Wang, who emigrated from China with her family at the age of five, holds a BA in Chemistry and a PhD in Public Health from Harvard University as well as an MFA in creative writing from Boston University. As an author, she is interested in a range of themes related to immigration and the experiences of Chinese immigrants in the United States. Joan is Okay explores the relationship between Chinese American immigrants and their children, the difficulties faced by second-generation immigrants, the intersection of race and gender, introversion and social connectivity, and the way that work shapes identity.

This guide refers to the 2023 Random House trade paperback edition.

Content Warning: This guide describes and discusses the source text’s depiction of anti-Asian discrimination and hate crimes.

Plot Summary

The novel opens with the death of Joan’s father. An attending physician at a large hospital in New York City, Joan is the daughter of Chinese immigrants who, after Joan’s graduation, returned to China. On receiving the news of her father’s death at work, Joan makes arrangements to travel to China to attend her father’s funeral, though she only intends to stay for two days. Her colleagues Reese and Madeline, who seem much more shaken by the news than Joan, quickly agree to cover Joan’s shifts at the hospital. Joan and her brother, Fang, fly to Shanghai, and because Fang, who is a hedge fund manager, makes the travel arrangements, the two are seated in the first-class cabin. Fang is pleased with the amenities in first class, but Joan would have preferred to fly coach.

Joan returns to New York after her short stay in Shanghai and resumes her busy work schedule. Joan works in the ICU of the hospital and enjoys the quiet order of the unit, which she notes is a marked contrast to the hectic pace of the hospital’s emergency room. Because she is an attending physician, she both spends time with patients and teaches younger doctors, and she finds her work intensely fulfilling. Although she gets along with Reese and Madeline, Joan is solitary by nature and does not connect deeply with friends, family members, or colleagues. When Reese asks Joan about her family upon her return from Shanghai, Joan is not sure how to respond.

Joan experiences a similar disconnect with her neighbors, and although she is polite, she does not have friends in her building and wishes that the doorman would speak to her less frequently. When a new tenant, Mark, moves in across the hall from Joan, she is initially chagrined by how chatty he is. Joan prefers to spend as much of her time working as possible; she has been hardworking and high-achieving since she was a child. Raised by immigrant parents who struggled in spite of their strong work ethics, intelligence, and education level, Joan grew up with a parenting style that was emotionally hands-off and a work-oriented set of values. She feels a tremendous sense of distance between herself and the people around her, but she prefers her life this way and is relatively happy.

Not long after Joan returns from China, her mother arrives in the United States for a visit. She is staying with Fang, his wife Tami, and their three children at their large, lavish compound in Connecticut. Her mother begins calling Joan late at night to chat, and although Joan is alarmed at the increased frequency of contact, she does her best to be a dutiful daughter and even begins to visit her mother at Fang’s. Joan has periods of intermittent grief about her father’s death, but mostly keeps her emotions in check and does not feel more connected to her family through their shared sadness.

Mark increasingly tries to forge a friendship with Joan as Fang simultaneously invites Joan to a series of events at his house, berating her for not spending more time with the family and for refusing to quit her demanding position in the city and open a private practice in the suburbs. Joan remains committed to her job and regularly covers shifts for her coworkers, including Reese, whom Joan judges slightly because he is unwilling to miss holidays. Joan herself has missed many holidays with her family, which she regards as a badge of honor. Her work ethic stands her in good stead with her supervisor and hospital administration, although the hospital’s HR department feels that Joan takes on too many shifts and needs to take more time off.

Joan and Fang had each attended Ivy League schools. While Fang was comfortable using his status as an immigrant of color to curry favor with the admissions board, though, Joan was not. She does not want to be perceived as “different” and is more comfortable in fields like medicine, which she views as a true meritocracy. This is not the only area in which she and Fang have different opinions, and the two struggle in their relationship. Joan often feels that Fang talks down to her and that he is controlling. She also struggles in her relationship with Fang’s wife, Tami, and Joan’s continued failure to appear at their large holiday gatherings is a source of irritation to both Fang and his wife.

Mark continues to step up his efforts to befriend Joan, and he begins giving her gifts of furniture and books. Joan is not quite sure what she thinks of Mark, but as the two begin to get to know one another, she does not find him entirely unpleasant. When Mark hosts a party for the building in Joan’s apartment without her consent, however, Joan escapes to Fang’s house; because she has been ordered to take six weeks off of work, and with the COVID-19 pandemic just getting underway, she remains in her brother’s guest house. Although this new arrangement gives her an opportunity to spend more time with her mother and with Fang and his family, she continues to feel alienated, and her thoughts often turn to the hospital. Joan was recently given a raise while Reese, whom the director judges for his unwillingness to work nights and holidays, has gone on an extended wellness leave.

As the pandemic begins to spread around the world, Joan’s mother tries, repeatedly and unsuccessfully, to return to China. Fang and Tami are upset that she does not want to remain in their home, but ultimately, Fang tries to help his mother and makes several attempts to get her on flights to Shanghai. Travel has been severely affected by the pandemic, though, and he is not successful in his efforts. Fang and Joan continue to differ in their opinions on everything from family to immigration to work, and Joan is happy when she is able to return to her apartment and the hospital. Reese, who has also returned, seems calmer than he did before his leave of absence. As COVID-19 cases rise at the hospital, everyone grows busy caring for the sick and the dying. Joan and her fellow providers often hold phones and iPads up to the patients so that they can communicate with their loved ones as visitors are not allowed in the ICU. The novel ends on a regular workday for Joan. On the way into the hospital, she stops at a store and recalls seeing a father-daughter Asian pair purchase a lottery ticket together. She remembers that the father told his daughter that moving to the United States had been his real “win.”