Mum Is Where the Heart Is

Translated by Shelly Bryant from You Jin's 1996 memoir [跌碎的彩虹]

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In this uproarious memoir, You Jin employs her wry, inimitable style to look at the parental life as she grows with her children. Beginning with her first trip back to her in-laws' home in Ipoh, she takes us through nearly three decades to when the youngest of her three children leaves home to study overseas, unflinchingly facing the mistakes she makes along the way and the wisdom she—and they—discover in the process. Equally unafraid to acknowledge her own failings and her children's sometimes surprising insights, You Jin bares some of the deepest emotions found in any of her work, feelings that have grown out of some of the most personal observations and events.

With her usual wit, warmth and candour, You Jin finds ways to laugh—usually at herself—even after having passed through the bleakest days of severe depression. As she navigates her way through the sometimes harrowing experiences of parenthood, she discovers new sides to her children, and to herself, adding brilliant colours to even the most mundane of life's scenes.