Joan Is Okay by Weike Wang, Read by Catherine Ho

Every Monday through Friday, AudioFile’s editors recommend the best in audiobook listening. We keep our daily episodes short and sweet, with audiobook clips to give you a sample of our featured listens.

Narrator Catherine Ho gives a superb performance in Joan Is Okay, Weike Wang’s audiobook about Joan, a first-generation Chinese-American ICU physician. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss how brilliantly Catherine Ho inhabits the character of Joan, making for a fascinating ride that delves into the psyche of someone who interacts with the world in an unusual way. Joan is grieving the loss of her father while struggling with the direction of her life. Joan is a wary but sharply observant character, and Ho mines the expanse of Joan’s acuity and introspection to depict a complex woman.

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