Pieces of Gold — Nancy Young Mosny

A son is worth ten thousand pieces of gold, a daughter only a thousand...

"Jenny, my daughter, heart of my heart..."

To Jenny, Ma Ma has always been a pillar of strength, a courageous woman who left everything behind to build a life in a faraway land.  To Ma Ma, Jenny has always been her cheen gum, her thousand pieces of gold, her precious only daughter...even if Jenny did marry a "white ghost" and move to New Jersey, even if the only Chinese food she serves her family is takeout.

Now Ma Ma has suffered a stroke, leaving Jenny feeling as helpless as Ma Ma lying in her hospital bed.  Suddenly it's Jenny's turn to hold the family together.  But Jenny is stronger than she knows.  As Ma Ma struggles to relearn the simplest tasks, Jenny will discover the thousand ways a mother and daughter are joined heart to heart, connected by painful family secrets and rich cultural lore, and by a treasure beyond price.

In this poignant first novel based on her own experiences, Nancy Young Mosny has fashioned a patchwork of growing old and growing up, of Chinese and American, of strengths and frailties, of the love and hatred that bind us all.