Joan is Okay

Joan is a thirty-something ICU doctor at a busy New York City hospital. She is intensely devoted to her work and happily solitary, but she sometimes wonders where her true roots lie: at the hospital, where her white coat makes her feel needed, or with her family, who try to shape her life according to their cultural and social expectations.

After moving to the United States to secure the American dream for their children, Joan’s parents have returned to China, hoping to spend the rest of their lives in their homeland now that Joan and her brother are well established in their careers. But when her father suddenly dies, a series of events sends Joan spiralling out of her comfort zone, forcing her to consider her life anew.

Deceptively spare, quietly powerful and shot through with sharp humour, Joan Is Okay is a portrait of a marvellously surprising woman you won’t forget.

Long-listed for Carnegie Medal 2023 (UK)

“'With gimlet-eyed observation and laced with darkly biting wit, Joan Is Okay is a deeply felt portrait of a woman who's effaced herself to survive--and how, in the face of devastating loss, she's forced to confront her grief and her place in the world. In her second novel, Weike Wang masterfully probes the existential uncertainty of being other in America.'”

‘With gimlet-eyed observation and laced with darkly biting wit, Joan Is Okay is a deeply felt portrait of a woman who’s effaced herself to survive—and how, in the face of devastating loss, she’s forced to confront her grief and her place in the world. In her second novel, Weike Wang masterfully probes the existential uncertainty of being other in America.’ Celeste Ng, author of Little Fires Everywhere

‘Joan isn’t just okay, she’s wonderful. I could listen to her smart, witty voice forever. Incisive yet tender, written with elegant style and delicious comic verve, Wang’s story of the day-to-day life of a gifted young Chinese-American ICU doctor amply fulfils the outstanding promise of her debut novel.’

Sigrid Nunez, author of The Friend

‘I would read anything Weike Wang writes, even a cereal box. With skilful and singular insight, humour, and heart, in her new novel she navigates impossible-to-talk-about territory: grief, family, the straddling of two cultures. Joan Is Okay, like Joan herself, is brilliant, subtly powerful, and different—in the best way.’

Rachel Khong, author of Goodbye, Vitamin

‘Written in a distinct, original style, this story is subtle, nuanced, intense. It shows the complicated facets of the immigrant experience and speaks to many current immigrants’ condition. Unflinchingly, Joan Is Okay challenges some of our fundamental views on home, belonging, family. A smart, quietly engaging novel that is also warm and moving.’

Ha Jin, author of Waiting
‘Joan Is Okay offers no easy solution or false cheer for troubling times. Rather, Weike Wang takes us into the heart of the matter: death, dysfunction, COVID-19, xenophobia, misogyny, and the chronic misapprehension that passes between people of good intentions. The miracle that emerges, then, is just how funny this book is, how compassionate and visionary.’ Joshua Ferris, author of A Calling for Charlie Barnes
‘I am staggered by Weike Wang’s humor, heart, and brilliance. I loved Joan and I am pressing this book into your hands.’ Lily King, author of Writers and Lovers
‘Joan is a character I will be thinking about for a long time to come. Her extreme naivete, her lack of filter, her drive--in some ways, she's the opposite of the protagonist in Weike Wang's debut novel, Chemistry (one of my favorite books ever!) but they share a similar core in many ways, shaped by their similar childhoods with parents who longed to return to China, even if that meant being away from their own children. The spare, staccato prose works to accentuate the characterization to great effect. I could not put this book down.’ Angie Kim, author of Miracle Creek
‘I loved this book, even more than Chemistry—once I could finally read it: The rest of my family took turns stealing it off my desk, cackling with glee, debating which characters were their favorites. This is an Asian-American novel like no other, set in the heart of the pandemic, in the city I call home. Joan is my hero.’ Ed Park, author of Personal Days
‘Plucky, mordant, unflappable, Joan resists the American lures of affluence, consumer aesthetics and sitcom romance. Joan is Okay charts the internal story of the mythic immigrant success narrative in a tragicomedy about the costs of generational betterment.’ Mona Simpson, author of My Hollywood and Casebook
‘In Joan, Wang has created a compelling character, utterly distinct, and the novel is carried by her dispassionate, clear-eyed, and often drily amusing narration.’ Claire Messud, Harper’s
‘A wry, wise and simply spectacular book.’ People (US)
‘Wang’s sense of humour makes [Joan Is Okay] both a page-turner and a poignant reflection on the familial ruptures caused by immigrating.’ Tomi Obaro, Buzzfeed
‘Downright hilarious…punctuated by moments of unexpected tenderness…Like Joan herself, Wang’s narrative is at once laser-focused and multilayered. She raises provocative questions about motherhood, daughterhood, belonging and the many definitions of “home”. What do we owe our parents? Our children? And are any of us okay?’ Deesha Philyaw, New York Times
‘Brilliant and often funny.’ Readings
'Joan Is Okay is a brilliantly funny and powerful story about a woman who will surprise everyone, even herself.’ Mamamia
'Deceptively spare, quietly powerful and shot through with sharp humour, Joan Is Okay is a portrait of a marvellously surprising woman you won’t forget.’ Women’s Agenda
‘Alternately wryly witty and sharply poignant, offering an incisive and engaging portrait of a woman who has grown up feeling othered and out of place, and has learnt to find both self-effacement and satisfaction in her work.’ West Australian
'This novel provides a fascinating character study that holds the reader at a tantalising distance, never quite all the way in but enough to see the faultline.’ Sydney Morning Herald
‘[A] witty, sharply observed drama.’ Happy Mag
‘Another deep, insightful, compassionate and moving story from Wang.’ Robert Goodman, Blurb
‘A magnificent story of identity and finding separate paths to belonging.’ Good Reading
‘Delightful, affirming…this one is for fans of Sayaka Murata’s Convenience Store Woman. Joan is not just okay—she’s awesome.’ Big Issue
'An exploration of how family shapes us for better or for worse…and the way we sometimes get in our own way…[A] really beautiful character study.’ RNZ Nine to Noon
‘The uncomfortable humour and weird politics of family are front and centre…delivered with surprisingly caustic wit.’ Esquire
‘Witty and understated…Joan is not, of course, okay, but not in the ways the people around her think. When she finally flies off the handle, the results are spectacular.’ Vox
‘Every once in a while, you encounter a fictional character who stays with you: someone whose voice is just so particular, whose observations and judgements of the world around them are so exact yet surprising, that you wish you could ask them what they think about everything. This is how I feel about the narrator, Joan, in Weike Wang’s second novel, Joan Is Okay.’ Katie Yee, Asian American Writers’ Workshop
‘A very interesting character-based book…Funny and moving.’ Alice Pung, ABC RN

Weike Wang was born in Nanjing, China, and grew up in Australia, Canada, and the United States. She is a graduate of Harvard University, where she earned her undergraduate degree in chemistry and her doctorate in public health. Her first novel, Chemistry, received the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Fiction, the Ploughshares John C. Zacharis First Book Award, and a Whiting Award. She is a ‘5 Under 35’ honouree of the National Book Foundation and her work has appeared in the New Yorker. She currently lives in New York City.

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