Issue #70: ...And What a Year It Was

Photos from 2022 I haven't shared anywhere.

Morning Person is a weekly newsletter packed with obsessively-curated recommendations and ideas—let’s get to it!

📚 The Many Daughters of Afong Moy by Jamie Ford: When poet Dorothy Moy undergoes an experimental treatment to mitigate her depression and possibly save her daughter from the same fate, she is able to witness the lives of five generations of women in her family, sending her on a time traveling-adjacent tale from the relatively near future 2080s to 1836, when the first Chinese woman in her family arrived in America. Come for the gorgeously written characters, stay for the unexpected love story. (This book had been languishing on my shelf for months when a strong recommendation from my friend

Thao Thai

finally convinced me to pick it up!)

📺 A Plethora of Period Dramas: Because there’s really nothing to take the edge off the holidays like escaping into long-gone centuries… “The Empress” on Netflix is in German, but don’t let the subtitles discourage you from watching it (or downloading it for your holiday travel flights, as I did!). It follows the life of the headstrong German princess Elisabeth of Bavaria, or “Sisi,” who became the Empress of Austria when Emperor Franz Joseph proposed to her at fifteen. It’s fascinating to see how many parallels exist between 19th century and 21st century royals. And, while I haven’t watched either yet, the new adaptation of “Dangerous Liasons” on Starz and “The English” on Amazon are both supposed to be great! By the way, don’t miss my favorite shows, books, and movies of the year in next week’s issue!