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.
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.
Amy tan is a wonderful writer and brings her characters to life in this historical story.
Recently finished her first book ‘The Joy Luck Club’ … loved reading about another culture … the beginning of this book tried to ‘control’ future generation thru guilt based on cultural superstitions … then regressed into the hardships of growing up repressed …
Always good stuff from the author.
A fun enjoyable read.
Nothing to pull me in…to make me want to follow the characters.
Very good read.