With the same narrative skills and evocative powers that made her first novel, The Joy Luck Club, a national bestseller, Tan now tells the story of Winnie Louie, an aging Chinese woman unfolding a life’s worth of secrets to her suspicious, Americanized daughter.
Fun book. Light reading, take one into someone else’s life. Had trouble putting down.
Definitely a read for lovers of Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club.
I loved The Joy Luck Club more, but this was very good. We on the East Coast know little of the history of those in the Asian communities on the West Coast. and how so many came to the US after World War II. We heard little of the effects of the Japanese Occupation of China before and during the war. This sheds a small light on it. Also, I was shocked to read of the treatment of women in Chinese culture and the suffering that went on. Multi generational and set in two different continents with an ocean in between both. I recommend it.
It was a little long and quite depressing most of the way. There are occasional funny moments
Love Amy’s work. This was reminiscent of The Joy Luck Club. Interesting characters, kept me engaged with their fates, we’ll crafed as her work always is.
Great story of Chinese immigrants.
Highly interesting family saga from China to the USA. I love being surprised by twists and turns while sounding so real. This is a great read!
Favorite of all of Ms Tan’s books. Wanted it to keep going on. I love the way she developed her characters.
I lived in the Orient and experienced the depth of life and a complex society with a reverence of the unknowable which is a constant mystery and frustration which has made me feel i am one and many in tune with the authors characters which made me feel i am home again.
I found this book boring. Great characters were it’s only saving grace.
Great book loved it.
The plot initially was slow and then kicked in to grab my attention. Glad I didn’t give up.
Always enjoyed her books. Amy Tan is an excellent author.
Took a while to get through this but good book. I wasn’t a fan of the writing.
This is one of my favorites of Amy Tan and I have read all of her books
Amy writes very good stories.
How well do we really know our immediate families? We know the personalities of our parents but many of us know little about how they came to be who they are, and few of us care until we reach an age where we are dealing with and aware of shaping influences in our own lives. The main characters are a mother and daughter, an aunt who is not really an aunt, and the forces at work in China where the mother and aunt both lived through young adulthood. All of this is unlocked when the ‘aunt’ threatens to tell her close friend’s daughter the secrets she doesn’t know about her self.
Tan’s writing style Is a Joy! She assumes you know her
characters so doesnt waste her time or yours with introductions.
Not her best
Interesting story of family life in China during World War II, particularly the years leading up to 1941. You learn what it was like to have your country occupied by a foreign power (Japan) and the hardships that the people endured. You also learn how the people of China handled the “appeasers” after the war and the hardships that led many to flee overseas.