Knopf, February 2011
When Susan Conley's husband lands a career opportunity in China, they are faced with a decision. Are they and their two sons, Aidan (four) and Thorne (six), prepared pack their bags and move from Maine to Beijing? For Tony it's a no-brainer. A sinophile who studied Mandarin in college and back-packed through the country prior to meeting Conley, Tony knew he would somehow end up back in China, if only temporarily. But for her, China is a country of unknowns: "the nuanced language, and a history so rich that Marco Polo and Genghis Khan both sharpened their teeth there," and a few other unknowns that she hadn't bargained for.
The family lands in a Soho loft-style apartment on an eight-lane freeway called Fourth Ring Road. Beijing, where air pollution "as thick as leek soup" darkens the skies and Conley can count over 100 skyscrapers from their apartment window, is a far cry from their New England home, and she chronicles the struggle of the expatriate to to locate basic necessities and communicate with the natives while lacking the words to do so.
When Susan Conley's husband lands a career opportunity in China, they are faced with a decision. Are they and their two sons, Aidan (four) and Thorne (six), prepared pack their bags and move from Maine to Beijing? For Tony it's a no-brainer. A sinophile who studied Mandarin in college and back-packed through the country prior to meeting Conley, Tony knew he would somehow end up back in China, if only temporarily. But for her, China is a country of unknowns: "the nuanced language, and a history so rich that Marco Polo and Genghis Khan both sharpened their teeth there," and a few other unknowns that she hadn't bargained for.
The family lands in a Soho loft-style apartment on an eight-lane freeway called Fourth Ring Road. Beijing, where air pollution "as thick as leek soup" darkens the skies and Conley can count over 100 skyscrapers from their apartment window, is a far cry from their New England home, and she chronicles the struggle of the expatriate to to locate basic necessities and communicate with the natives while lacking the words to do so.
Aidan and Thorne adapt quickly, learning Mandarin faster than their mother and soon make friends with children at their international school. Conley is ostensibly working on a novel that she plans to finish while in Beijing, but life rarely goes according to plan, and just as the Forbidden City exists inside the city of Beijing, another story unfolds within her China story, a story of breast cancer.
The radiologist and surgeon at the international hospital in Beijing tell her not to worry about the two marble-sized lumps in her left breast. They say that she needs to wait. But when Conley, who opines that China "doesn't seem big on patient advocacy," insists upon a biopsy, the surgeon finds cancer and performs an unplanned lumpectomy, just the beginning of an utterly different adventure than the one she had planned.
The Foremost Good Fortune is most of all a story about growth and family. Susan wrestles with helping her sons navigate the foreign territory that is both China and cancer, territory for which she has no maps, and she transmits the poignancy of these moments with unflinching honesty and, writing mostly in the present tense, an immediacy that captures the poignancy of discreet moments. Other times, it seems to be her boys who are helping her navigate uncharted territory, as when, just prior to her mastectomy, Aidan brings her a drawing filled with clouds and butterflies.
The radiologist and surgeon at the international hospital in Beijing tell her not to worry about the two marble-sized lumps in her left breast. They say that she needs to wait. But when Conley, who opines that China "doesn't seem big on patient advocacy," insists upon a biopsy, the surgeon finds cancer and performs an unplanned lumpectomy, just the beginning of an utterly different adventure than the one she had planned.
The Foremost Good Fortune is most of all a story about growth and family. Susan wrestles with helping her sons navigate the foreign territory that is both China and cancer, territory for which she has no maps, and she transmits the poignancy of these moments with unflinching honesty and, writing mostly in the present tense, an immediacy that captures the poignancy of discreet moments. Other times, it seems to be her boys who are helping her navigate uncharted territory, as when, just prior to her mastectomy, Aidan brings her a drawing filled with clouds and butterflies.
"You have to choose which one you want to be during your surgery - clouds or butterflies." He looks up at me, waiting, and I realize he's offering me a way to escape the operating room. How does he know I need this? How has he gotten it so right?
"Which do you want to be?"
"Butterfly," I decide almost without thinking. "I want to be a butterfly."
"Okay." He nods and smiles slightly, like I've made a good choice. He stares at the drawing for a minute longer and then points. "Now you can imagine you're one of these butterflies in this drawing if the surgery hurts." He pauses again. "Which butterfly do you think is the prettiest? You've got to pick one."
There are so many beautiful butterflies it's almost impossible to choose, but I point to one. "Okay." He nods again and seems to approve. "Okay. Now this is your butterfly." He stares at me briefly, right in the eyes. "Imagine you're this butterfly during the surgery, okay? Then, whenever you want, you can just fly away." He says the last part slowly, like he's giving me the keys to the universe. Then he adds, "You just get up and fly away."
Alternately touching and humorous, The Foremost Good Fortune is a wonderful memoir of an ordinary family thrust into extraordinary circumstances. You can read an excerpt, "Starter Buddha," from the January 2, 2011 New York Times Magazine.
"Which do you want to be?"
"Butterfly," I decide almost without thinking. "I want to be a butterfly."
"Okay." He nods and smiles slightly, like I've made a good choice. He stares at the drawing for a minute longer and then points. "Now you can imagine you're one of these butterflies in this drawing if the surgery hurts." He pauses again. "Which butterfly do you think is the prettiest? You've got to pick one."
There are so many beautiful butterflies it's almost impossible to choose, but I point to one. "Okay." He nods again and seems to approve. "Okay. Now this is your butterfly." He stares at me briefly, right in the eyes. "Imagine you're this butterfly during the surgery, okay? Then, whenever you want, you can just fly away." He says the last part slowly, like he's giving me the keys to the universe. Then he adds, "You just get up and fly away."
Alternately touching and humorous, The Foremost Good Fortune is a wonderful memoir of an ordinary family thrust into extraordinary circumstances. You can read an excerpt, "Starter Buddha," from the January 2, 2011 New York Times Magazine.
Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.
