Jessamine Chan

Jessamine Chan is an American novelist and the author of The School for Good Mothers.

Chan is a first-generation Chinese-American. She grew up in Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago, as the daughter of Chinese professors who met in the US.^[1] Her mother is from Taiwan, and her father is from mainland China.^[2] She received her bachelor's degree from Brown University, followed by a Master of Fine Arts degree from Columbia University.^[1]

She currently lives in Chicago with her husband and daughter.^[3]

After graduating from Brown, Chan moved to New York City to work as an editor of nonfiction reviews for Publishers Weekly.^[2] Later, she moved to Chicago and worked as editor of a research digest for University of Chicago’s graduate business school before beginning her MFA at Columbia.^{[citation needed]}

Chan's debut novel, The School for Good Mothers, was published in 2022 by Simon & Schuster. The dystopian novel was inspired by a nonfiction New Yorker article in which a mother lost parental rights.^[4] She started writing the book in 2014.^[1] It was the Today Show's "Read with Jenna" book club pick when the book came out.^[2] The book was a finalist for the 2023 John Leonard Prize, awarded by the National Book Critics Circle for a first book in any genre.^[5]

In 2022, Jessica Chastain's production company Freckle Films bought the TV rights to the book, with plans for Jude Weng to direct the TV adaptation.^[6] Chan will serve as an executive producer for the show.^[3]

Chan spent three years living in South Philadelphia with her husband and daughter, providing material for her debut novel.^[4]

• —— (2022). The School for Good Mothers. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781982156121.