Jessamine Chan
Jessamine Chan’s short stories have appeared in Tin House and Epoch. A former reviews editor at Publishers Weekly, she holds an MFA from Columbia University’s School of the Arts and a BA from Brown University. Her work has received support from the Elizabeth George Foundation, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Wurlitzer Foundation, the Jentel Foundation, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center, the Anderson Center, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and the Ragdale Foundation. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and daughter.
February Read of the Month
The School for Good Mothers By Jessamine Chan
"Frida Liu has made a mistake. A mistake that has labelled her a bad mother. But Frida is given the opportunity to show she can be a good mother, a redeemed mother, through a new Big Brother-esque government program, that is not all that it seems. The School for Good Mothers is a critique of both Child Protective Services and how we define motherhood (versus fatherhood). Readers will find hints of Margaret Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale, both in the main character’s dry self-reflections and in the dystopian world which controls her every move." -Gwyneth, Detroit
Jessamine's Recommended Reads
Check out some of Jessamine Chan's favorite books and read why she loved them so much!
Mrs. Caliban
By Rachel Ingalls
An utterly perfect, completely idiosyncratic tale of an unhappy housewife who falls in love with a mysterious sea creature. This 1982 novel contains more life, wisdom, romance, sorrow, and beauty than it would seem possible in 125 pages.
Easy Beauty
By Chloé Cooper Jones
One of the best books I’ve ever read, Jones’ stunning memoir weaves travel writing, philosophical inquiry, and ruminations on motherhood and disability with a study of how we see, and exist, in the world. It is both about beauty and about living.
Minor Feelings
By Cathy Park Hong
A book that made me feel seen and which articulated so many thoughts and feelings I’ve had as an Asian-American but was unable to put into words. Both intellectually rigorous and accessible, this book is even more urgent at a time when Asian Americans are increasingly under threat.
Never Let Me Go
By Kazuo Ishiguro
A huge inspiration for my novel, Ishiguro’s classic about British teenagers at a mysterious boarding school and the ways in which they learn how they’re different will haunt you forever with its elegant foreboding and existential questions.
Happening
By Annie Ernaux
A very recent favorite! I wish I could drop all my other work and spend a month catching up on the entire Ernaux canon. Her clarity and depth of feeling is unlike anything I’ve read before. The need for women’s freedom and bodily autonomy is never clearer than in this book.