The Bonesetter's Daughter Summary

Ruth Young is an accomplished ghostwriter residing in San Francisco, trying to balance her professional life, her relationship with boyfriend Art, and his two adolescent daughters. Ruth's aging mother, LuLing, is a complex person with a history of mental struggles who now shows signs of dementia. This revelation leads Ruth to strive to understand her mother's past better. LuLing once shared a document detailing her past, but Ruth struggled with the Chinese text. After her mother's diagnosis, Ruth finds the remaining pages, gets them professionally translated, and moves in with LuLing to care for her.

The translated manuscript unveils LuLing's story, born into a wealthy family of ink-makers in 1916 China. A significant figure in LuLing's life was her mute, scarred nursemaid, Precious Auntie. Precious Auntie's past is also a part of the document, which LuLing knows because of an older document passed down to her. Precious Auntie, educated and independent, was raised by a healer and bonesetter father. Her beauty led to proposals from two men - Chang, a coffin maker, and Baby Uncle, LuLing's youngest uncle. She chose Baby Uncle, but their wedding day turned tragic as bandits attacked, killing Baby Uncle and Precious Auntie's father. They believed the assault was orchestrated by Chang as revenge for his rejected proposal.

Surviving the attack, Precious Auntie was taken to the Liu family's home. In her grief, she drank burning ink, leaving her mute and scarred. When she got pregnant with Baby Uncle's child, the Liu family disguised the illegitimate birth, with LuLing being adopted by Baby Uncle's eldest brother. Precious Auntie remained as her nursemaid, but LuLing was never told about her real parentage. This secret was revealed to LuLing when Precious Auntie committed suicide to prevent LuLing's match with Chang's son. LuLing later ended up in an orphanage, married, and relocated to America after World War II, where she raised Ruth alone. Understanding her mother's past makes Ruth more empathetic, leading to her moving LuLing into a care home and growing closer to her own family history.