"Leaving Deep Water is an intensely personal, ground-breaking volume joining together the voices of Asian American women who find themselves at the crossroads of American mainstream culture and their Asian heritage. It is an intimate, revealing collection of stories of women of all ages, lifestyles, and origins, which offers rare insight into the multicultural experience.

What does it mean to be a woman caught between two worlds? Drawing on the personal narratives of dozens of women from China, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam, and other Asian countries, Claire S. Chow breaks down the myths and stereotypes surrounding the Asian American struggle and explores the ways women of Asian descent attempt to create a place for themselves in the dominant culture. In these intimate reflections, the disparate voices of the women are unified by their shared ethnic background and a sense of cultural displacement.

Chow begins each chapter by telling her own story as it relates to a particular theme, such as coming of age, parental expectations, career experiences, marriage and divorce, raising children, or aging. She also shares her personal and professional insight into the topic, which provides the context for an introduction into the lives of a variety of Asian American women, ranging from Carol, a Chinese American schoolteacher raising a half-Caucasian daughter, to Holly, a successful Japanese American writer who describes the often confusing experience of growing up Asian in Kansas." (Book Cover)

Contents

Preface

Chapter 1: Growing up Asian, Growing up American

Chapter 2: Coming of Age

Chapter 3: One of those 4.0, Piano-playing Asians

Chapter 4: Between mothers and daughters: Love and guilt

Chapter 5: Fathers and daughters: Love, power, and control

Chapter 5: Fathers and daughters: Love, power, and control

Chapter 6: Choosing a partner

Chapter 7: Marriage and divorce: Coming together, Coming apart

Chapter 8: How we were raised, How we are raising our children

Chapter 9: On the job

Chapter 10: Blending in or standing out: Stories of racism and discrimination

Chapter 11: Ethnicity and identity: What it means to be Asian American

Chapter 12: Creating a sense of self

Chapter 13: Naming names

Chapter 14: A sense of belonging: A place to call home

Chapter 15: Becoming my own person: A woman in her own right

Chapter 16: Grief and its aftermath

Chapter 17: Immigration stories

Chapter 18: Growing older: Looking ahead, looking back

Afterword