Book Club: Homesick – My Own Journey
Monday night was Book Club night.
This month we read Homesick: My Own Story by Jean Fritz.
In this autobiographical work Jean Fritz tells about her experiences as an American growing up in China with parents who worked to bring the YMCA to China in the 1920’s.
We happened to wait a little too late to snag the book from the library this month and I was forced to do what I rarely do – download the audio at a cost on iTunes.
As it turned out, the audio book was a real treat because Jean Fritz herself was the narrator. Although I’m certain she wouldn’t qualify as a professional reader per se, her voice is endearing and hearing her tell her own story in her own words was exactly fitting.
Since the book was primarily about her Chinese experience, we decided we would meet for Book Club at a local Chinese restaurant.
We were even a tad adventurous – we tasted squid! London said it tasted like fresh tuna directly out of the can. I think it tasted like – squid.
The story is a perfect fit for a mother-daughter discussion. One of the primary relationships featured throughout the novel is Jean’s relationship with her own mother. London found it especially amusing that Jean’s mother seemed to be very concerned that Jean should “be good”. She said, “I felt as if the last thing my mother would say to me as I walked down the aisle at my own wedding would be – ‘Jean, be good!'”
It’s funny, of course, because as I was reading this novel, I felt humbled by the clear manner the narrator was able to express her frustration with adults and their language and their manners. I am certain I often confuse and frustrate my own children with my methods and my explanations.
Each week, regardless of the book, I am aware of what a privilege it is to sit down with mothers and daughters and talk about literature and life together. What a sweet habit we are developing. I am grateful and conscious of the gift of riding in cars with two of my daughters and eating fun meals and creating memories and ties through words and time spent shared together.
At the end of our discussion we all took a few minutes to write a short letter to mail to the author – who happens to be 98 years old. (And who, coincidentally, was good friends with Jean Craighead George, another absolute favorite of our family’s and a previously read author in our Book Club. Jean Fritz was also awarded a Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal. Full circle over here.) However, I am having a rather difficult time locating an address for Ms. Fritz as she says she is not a fan of the internet – she much prefers books.
Homesick, as a novel, ranks up there in my top three Book Club book offerings thus far. It’s a lovely sentimental journey into China and into the 20’s and into growing up itself.
