A wry and insightful portrait of contemporary life, this is the much-anticipated follow-up to the award-winning novel Chemistry.

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.

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.