The Kitchen God's Wife (1991)

A very vivid unfolding of a Chinese mother's life story as she recounts it to her American-Chinese daughter in an effort to bridge a widening gap in their relationship. It took me a while to get into this book. In these covid times I was not in the mood for a dark book and there was a lot of foreshadowing of the deep and awful experiences the mother had being married to an evil and abusive man back in China. Well with a sudden snow storm and power outage I read more at one time, and I was hooked. A dramatic story, retold in a powerful, authentic and dispassionate voice that vividly brings China of the 30's and 40's to life. Central themes are the attitudes and values of the culture and the complicated love-hate relationship with life-long friend Hulan-Helen. ( )

NA

Another version of some of the same events recounted in Tan's more famous first novel, The Joy Luck Club. The story of a Chinese woman’s personal struggles with an abusive husband during the turmoil of World War II and the subsequent Communist takeover. Very good, and relevant to me as a fictionalized memoir, told from the mother’s point of view, but written by the daughter. ( )

Really good! So glad I discovered Amy Tan and her beautiful storytelling. ( )

3.5 stars

Pearl and her mother are often at odds with each other. Pearl’s mother, Winnie, immigrated to the US from China, not long after WWII. Pearl doesn’t realize just how much from her life in China Winnie hasn’t told her. But, her Aunt Helen hints that there are secrets... Aunt Helen encourages Winnie to tell Pearl and also encourages Pearl to reveal her own secret to her mother – a secret about her health.

This was good. It was told at the start and end by Pearl, but the majority of the book, in the middle, is Winnie relating her story – her life in China – to Pearl. It’s written as if the reader is Pearl. I liked Pearl’s portion of the story, but when we switched to Winnie it took a while for me to warm up to the story and become as interested as I ended up being. Ultimately, Winnie’s story was the “meat” of the book. ( )