The Bonesetter’s Daughter

by Amy Tan
Miriam is Art’s ex-wife and mother to Dory and Fia. She is the opposite of Ruth: outspoken, confident, and flashy. Ruth thinks she might have liked Miriam, had they met under different circumstances. However, she feels intimidated by Miriam’s formerly intimate relationship with Art and resents how being co-parents makes Miriam and Art permanent fixtures in each other’s lives.

Miriam Quotes in The Bonesetter’s Daughter

The The Bonesetter’s Daughter quotes below are all either spoken by Miriam or refer to Miriam. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Secrecy and Misunderstanding  Theme Icon
).

Part One: Chapter Four Quotes

They were nice to her, certainly. They had given her lovely birthday presents, a silk velvet scarf, Chanel No. 5, a lacquered tea tray, but nothing she might share with Art or pass on to his girls—or any future children, for that matter, since she was beyond the possibility of giving the Kamens additional grandchildren. Miriam, on the other hand, was now and forever the mother of the Kamens’ granddaughters, the keeper of heirlooms for Fia and Dory. Marty and Arlene already had given her the family sterling, china, and the mezuzah kissed by five generations of Kamens since the days they lived in Ukraine.

Related Characters: Arlene and Marty Kamen, Fia , Dory, LuLing Liu Young, Miriam, Ruth Young, Art Kamen
Page Number and Citation: 87
Explanation and Analysis:
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Miriam Character Timeline in The Bonesetter’s Daughter

The timeline below shows where the character Miriam appears in The Bonesetter’s Daughter. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part One: Chapter Three
Secrecy and Misunderstanding  Theme Icon
Memory, Culture, and the Past  Theme Icon
Women’s Solidarity  Theme Icon
...home from dinner and realizes she hasn’t completed one task on her to-do list: calling Miriam, Art’s ex-wife, to ask if the girls can attend the family reunion dinner. Things are... (full context)
Part One: Chapter Four
Secrecy and Misunderstanding  Theme Icon
Memory, Culture, and the Past  Theme Icon
...one of the few places her LuLing actually likes. Today, Ruth is on edge because Miriam, her husband, and their two sons, Andy and Beauregard, will be joining them. Ruth had... (full context)
Secrecy and Misunderstanding  Theme Icon
Memory, Culture, and the Past  Theme Icon
...with Ruth. In the casual restaurant, the Kamens’ fancy clothing stands out. Ruth realizes that Miriam also dresses this way and feels alienated from this side of Art’s life. While the... (full context)
Secrecy and Misunderstanding  Theme Icon
Memory, Culture, and the Past  Theme Icon
...Art is on his second glass of wine and engaged in a lively discussion with Miriam. (full context)
Secrecy and Misunderstanding  Theme Icon
Memory, Culture, and the Past  Theme Icon
Women’s Solidarity  Theme Icon
...around the table to show everyone her prized pearls. She winces, suspecting that everyone, especially Miriam and the Kamens, must recognize that the pearls are phony. (full context)
Secrecy and Misunderstanding  Theme Icon
Memory, Culture, and the Past  Theme Icon
Women’s Solidarity  Theme Icon
...of using “spy talk.” Ruth hesitates before whispering to her mother that she’s bothered by Miriam’s presence at the dinner. LuLing consoles her daughter, telling Ruth not to talk to Art... (full context)