Janice Page: 'Year of the Water Horse' at Brookline Booksmith

Cloe Axelson, editor of WBUR's ideas and opinions page Cognoscenti,  sits down with Washington Post arts editor Janice Page to celebrate the release of her new memoir, "Year of the Water Horse," a warm and witty memoir about the ever-changing relationships between mothers, mothers-in-law and daughters that traverses two continents and multiple generations of two disparate yet connected families.

This event is hosted by Brookline Booksmith. 

About "The Mother Code"
Janice Page hails from Braintree, Massachusetts and a large Catholic brood. Her parents had a complicated marriage. Her five siblings each have their own sagas, and there is a destructive genetic force within the family’s blood lines that causes much heartbreak.

And then there is the large Chinese family of Janice’s husband, James, equally cinematic and sweeping with a rich and complex history of its own. There is a daring wartime escape, a lost child, immigration to a new world and a bittersweet reunion after decades of separation.

Janice first met James fresh out of college while waitressing at Mandarin Garden, the only Chinese restaurant of its kind in Braintree. He had just arrived in America from Taiwan. As they work to bridge the divide between them — emotionally, culturally,and geographically — they begin to build their lives together. From Taiwan to Los Angeles, from her mother's bipolar disorder to the language barrier with her mother-in-law, Janice finds herself constantly searching for the feeling of home. Janice believes she can close the circle when she embarks on her own journey to become a mother. Like so many journeys, Janice’s own journey to motherhood is filled with twists, turns, and surprises, leading to a baby girl from James’s ancestral region of China. Janice and James might finally close a circle that had been open for generations on both sides and find home at last.

Filled with humor and heart, wisdom and healing, "Year of the Water Horse" is a profound and compelling story with a deeply satisfying ending that will resonate long after the final page.