Real Americans

May recalls that one year for Mother’s Day, Lily gave her a watch. Clocks are considered unlucky gifts in China because they remind the recipient of mortality and the passing of time. When May immigrated to the United States, she hadn’t anticipated that there would be so many cultural differences between her and her American-born child.

The narrative skips back in time, and the following chapters chronicle May’s life from childhood. May grows up in an agricultural family in rural China, and she initially supports Mao and his communist project. She begins to doubt Mao when his campaign to kill all the sparrows that eat crops results in insect overpopulation, which leads to even more damaged crops. People begin to hoard food, and although she is young, she wonders what the future will hold for her country.

Not long after May turns 16, one of her older neighbors begins sexually assaulting her when she is on her way home from fetching water. She dissociates during the attacks and is grateful that she does not become pregnant. Luckily, she is accepted into Peking University and soon leaves the countryside for Beijing. There, she initially feels out of place among the city girls and boys, most of whom are the children of party officials. However, she gradually adjusts and even begins wearing her roommate’s clothes. She starts to notice boys looking at her, and she feels that her “real” life is just beginning.

May loves her university studies. Although the space race garners national media attention even in China, she is much more drawn to the micro-world of biology. When scientists begin to work on genetics, she hopes to be able to work in the burgeoning field to aid her country.

May takes the train home to her village for the Spring Festival. She is treated with unaccustomed respect by her family. Her brothers especially, who used to tease and belittle her, now seem in awe of her presence. May reflects that her life will not resemble that of her hardworking, peasant mother. She basks in the pride of her village: She has become a true daughter of the communist revolution, and her work as a scientist will always be of use to China.

In school, May is usually the second in her class. Ping, another student from a rural part of China, takes the top spot. Ping is cold and uninterested in talking with May, but the two are eventually assigned to work together to study the lotus plant. May confronts him about his refusal to make eye contact with her, and he admits that she makes him nervous. They interact more after that, but when May kisses him one day, he does not kiss her back.

May is dubious when the national news reports that at age 73, Mao broke a swimming record. She finds Ping, hoping to get past the disastrous kiss, and he jokingly suggests that they go swimming “like Mao.” From his tone of voice, she understands that he, too, doubts Mao’s ability to swim faster than much younger men. The two spend an increasing amount of time together and begin to fall in love.

The political climate becomes increasingly repressive. One of May’s roommates reports that her father, an important party official, has been denounced and taken away. May is forced to throw away her books and bury a jade bracelet given to her by her mother lest she be categorized as reactionary. She feels that her future lies outside of China, and she and Ping dream of emigrating.

The Red Guards begin swarming the city. The soldiers are housed with university students, and May cannot help but notice their ideological fervor and extremist beliefs. Her roommate, Lanlan, is denounced, and she watches in silent horror as she is bound, gagged, and dragged outside. Violence increases, and her professors disappear. She knows that she is not outwardly supportive enough of the Communist Party and that she, too, is in danger. She and Ping steal an ancient, “magic” lotus seed as the Red Guards smash windows and destroy priceless cultural artifacts in Beijing’s museums.

May is denounced as a capitalist and badly beaten. One of the Red Guards who participates in the attack is her own young cousin, who traveled to the capital from the countryside to be part of Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Afterward, Ping comforts her. The two plan to marry and become scientists somewhere else.

May and the other students are taken to the countryside. Mao has decided that they should work with their hands rather than with books. May and Ping are separated but find each other after they have been working for a short time. They make a dangerous plan to escape by swimming downriver. May writes to their classmate Wen, asking him to dig up her mother’s jade bracelet. He brings it to her and asks her to escape with him. His plan is better, and May thinks that if she chooses Ping, they will die. She escapes with Wen, leaving Ping behind.

Wen and May initially settle in Hong Kong, which is still a British territory. They find work in a factory. Wen is happy in the city and becomes loud and boisterous. He drinks every day and often smells of alcohol. May is unhappy and thinks constantly of Ping. The years pass, and Wen gets a job at the local university. May finishes her degree. Reluctantly, she begins a sexual relationship with him, and shortly before they leave for America, they marry. It is 1974, nearly 10 years since May first moved to Beijing.

May feels immediately intimidated when they arrive in the United States. Weng affects confidence, but she can tell that he is also anxious. They rent a dingy room and get jobs working in a DNA laboratory. Weng changes his name to Charles and seems happy, but May struggles. Charles is a demanding and difficult spouse, and she does not enjoy his company in or out of bed. She thinks about Ping and tries to comfort herself with the fact that she chose a better life and a career over love. Love, she thinks, is no guarantee.

May and Charles attend a Thanksgiving dinner at the home of their coworker, Yang. He and his wife, who are both Chinese, live in a beautiful house. Yang tells them that he has taken a position at a lab in Berkeley and that a new group of investors will be taking over their lab. The investors meet with May and Charles and decide to keep them on staff for a new genetics project.

In the narrative present, May and Nick finish their tea, and Nick leaves. He is in San Francisco to get away from Matthew and Otto, and he believes in the work that he is doing. Sam has died, but Nick still thinks about him often. He and Timothy, who is now a rocket scientist, remain friends. Nick speaks with his mother frequently.

The narrative skips back to May’s history. May and Charles continue to adapt to life in the United States. May’s language skills increase dramatically, and she enjoys the idea of being an American scientist. Charles fully embraces American culture and becomes a devotee of American cuisine and television. Their boss prepares to leave the lab, and its new backers interview May and Charles again. They are impressed with the pair, but they question them about their loyalties. May and Charles assure them that they want to be American and that they have no loyalty to China.

May and Charles sign new contracts and move into a home provided by the lab. May continues to feel alienated from Charles, but she develops a friendship with Otto, the lab’s main financer. Charles wants a baby, but May does not. The two argue repeatedly about the issue, although it is settled when May accidentally becomes pregnant after a dinner where the two drink wine to celebrate Mao’s death.

Otto’s wife dies by suicide after a lifelong battle with depression, and one of his sons also seems to have depression. He and May develop the idea of altering genetic material so that more or less of a particular parent’s DNA is passed on to their children. They give the experimental treatment to their own children—May’s daughter, Lily, and Otto’s son, Thomas—hoping to prevent them from inheriting a genetic predisposition to certain conditions from their parents.

Years later, when May realizes that Lily is engaged to Otto’s son, Matthew, she worries. When Lily is unable to conceive, she and Otto both understand that it is the result of her childhood treatments. During Lily’s IVF sessions, they experiment on the embryos, redistributing Lily and Matthew’s DNA. This is why Nick looks like his father instead of his mother. May feels a tremendous sense of guilt about the way that she and Otto manipulated their children to further their research, but she maintains that they had everyone’s best interests at heart.

After hearing this story from May, Nick calls his mother.

Representing his startup, Nick and his boss, Levi, meet with a potential financial backer. The company is in dire straits and needs the support of this man and his foundation. When Nick and Levi arrive, Nick realizes that the potential backer is his father. He does not reveal their relationship to Levi or give any sign that he knows Matthew. Levi steps away momentarily, and Matthew assures Nick, who cut ties with him years ago, that if this is what Nick wants to do, he will support him.

May’s roommate, Betty, dies. May reflects on her life and wishes that she had more time to spend with Lily and Nick.

Nick and Matthew meet and head to Levi’s mansion in Half Moon Bay. They are there for a large party, which Levi is throwing to impress Matthew. The partygoers talk about polygenetic screening, a process that parents could potentially undergo to ensure desirable characteristics in their children. Some argue that China will develop the technology first if the United States does not, while others question its ethics. When talk pivots to the idea of gene editing for race in interracial couples and whether or not couples would prefer lighter babies, Nick bristles. He comments on the racism evident in the discussion and gets up to leave. It is obvious that Matthew is as unimpressed with the party as Nick, and later, Nick learns from Levi that Matthew has decided not to invest in their startup.

Nick begins to spend more time with May. Lily, still angry over May and Otto’s experiments, refuses to speak to her mother. Nick contacts Matthew and tells him that he has come up with a way for Matthew to help.

May collapses after an afternoon spent walking around in San Francisco’s cold rain. Nick calls an ambulance when she loses consciousness. She has pneumonia, and the doctor is worried about the health of her heart. She asks to go home, but the doctors do not want to allow it. Nick helps her leave the hospital so that she can die in her apartment.

Nick would like to stay home from work to spend time with May, but Levi announces that all employees must attend a mandatory meeting to hear important news. There, he learns that Matthew Maier is buying their company. Nick realizes that his father has intervened on his behalf and hopes that he will take the company in a better direction than the other donor, a man whose questionable ethics would have led the company down a disastrous path. Nick knows all too well the impact that gene editing can have on children, and he does not want technology that can alter a child’s racial makeup or intellect to go mainstream. Later, Levi announces another surprise: Matthew is dissolving the startup. He is confused, but Nick knows that Matthew has done this to prevent any possibility of unethical research receiving funding. He is grateful to his father.

Nick offers May an experimental elixir that Levi takes in the hope of extending his life. She refuses and reflects on her own lifetime. She is deep in thought when the door opens and Lily enters her apartment.