The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Wang, Weike. Joan Is Okay. Random House, 2022.

One evening, while working at the hospital, Joan gets a call from her mother Sue. Her father Jim is having a stroke. Joan has Sue put the phone to Jim’s ear. Joan tells him, “Chuàng”: the Chinese word for “to begin” (8).

Joan gets her colleagues Reese and Madeleine to cover for her while she flies from New York City to Shanghai with her brother Fang. They travel first-class since Fang is a wealthy businessman. Fang often annoys Joan by behaving like a father instead of a brother. He wants Joan to move to Greenwich where he lives with his wife Tami and their children.

Sue welcomes them at the airport. It is the first time Joan has seen her in two years. Their embrace is low-key since they often speak on the phone. At the funeral, Joan struggles to say anything meaningful about her father. She returns to New York City the next day. At work, Reese asks Joan about her dad. Joan does not have much to say about Jim.

At the start of October, Joan struggles to spend the two weeks she is not scheduled for work. Madeline advises her to go on walks to occupy herself. During those two weeks, Joan gets a new neighbor named Mark. He bakes her a pie and enjoys baking for his other neighbors too. Mark is chatty and persistent in his friendship with Joan. Joan enjoys joking around with him but does not take him up on his offer to co-host a housewarming party.

One evening, while at work, Joan gets a call from Sue. Sue intends to spend the winter in Greenwich at Fang’s place. Joan is surprised to hear this since her mom never visits. Sue and Jim hated America, where they lived in poverty, and were glad to move back to China once Joan started university at Harvard.

One afternoon, Joan travels to Greenwich and visits Sue in secret. She makes a habit of this, doing her best to avoid her overbearing brother and sister-in-law. When Reese asks Joan to take his shift on Thanksgiving, she readily agrees to do so. Her own family are used to Joan never attending their parties or gatherings.

The hospital director offers Joan a raise. She is grateful but surprised since she did not ask for one. He asks about her father, but Joan does not have much to say about Jim. Soon after, Reese asks the director for a raise. The conversation does not go well. Afterwards, Reese asks Madeline and Joan whether they think he would make a good father or husband. Reese is unsure whether to keep on being a doctor. He works hard and feels he is being passed over. His glum mood persists. During his next conversation with Joan, he makes a sexist remark about how men care more about their careers than women. Joan tells him to “fuck right off” (79).

Sue grows bored in Greenwich and starts calling Joan more often. Sue complains about the caregiver Fang and Tami got her, who she calls Nanny, and about how no one lets her drive. Fang and Tami take Sue on a vacation to Colorado, but Sue is even more bored there.

One day, Mark offers Joan a reading chair he is getting rid of. He is shocked to see how barren Joan’s apartment is and starts delivering books and furniture from then on. He even gives her a TV and offers to install it while Joan is at work. Joan gives Mark the keys to her apartment, much to Mark’s delight.

The HR department of the hospital insist that Joan take time off work to grieve her father. Joan spends most of this time watching television. One evening, she gets home to find a party hosted by Mark in her apartment. Joan leaves for Greenwich that same night.

Joan stays a while at Fang’s guest house. She spends most of this time with her mother, who is eager to return to China despite the coronavirus pandemic. Joan and Tami butt heads since Tami keeps insisting that Joan should have kids. Joan decides to return to work despite her leave not being over in order to help her colleagues manage the overwhelming influx of patients.

Joan changes the lock of her apartment and ignores Mark’s attempts at reconciliation. She is sick of his patronizing way of trying to get her to assimilate into North American culture. Joan feels most at home at the hospital and is glad to be back despite the tragic cases she witnesses there. She realizes that there are many ways to show love and that her parents always loved her.