The Kitchen God's Wife was my second novel by Amy Tan. As it often the case with Tan, this novel focuses on the dynamics of an American Chinese family, more precisely on the relationship between a mother and a daughter. There are other characters, but there is no doubt that the mother and the daughter are the protagonists of this novel. Pear and Winnie are not only the sole narrators, they are what this novel is about. The Kitchen God’s Wife opens with the daughter’s narration. Pearl has been bo...

I decided to re-read this since it had been at least 15 years since I first read it and I remembered it not one whit (that says more about me than it does the novel). Yet there are Cliffs Notes on it now?! Arrgh! A friend of mine who teaches with me also admitted that she got tired of teaching the Joy Luck Club, so she started teaching this one instead because many of the same themes are explored.I'd agree it's every bit as satisfying as the Joy Luck Club, although if I had to choose between the...

What I learned from this book--my favorite part:"Isn't that how it is when you must decide with your heart? You are not just choosing one thing over another. You are choosing what you want. And you are also choosing what somebody else does not want, and all the consequences that follow. You can tell yourself, That's not my problem, but those words do not wash the trouble away. Maybe it is no longer a problem in your life. But it is always a problem in your heart."

The book begins with Pearl planning on attending a wedding but then also learns there is a funeral. As most of Tans books, this book deals with family history, relationships, some cultural history of China, the life of women in China and assimilation to the United States.Winnie and her friend Helen have a kept a secret for most of their lives, Winnie's daughter Pearl also has a secret she has been keeping from her Mother. Helen steps in, claims she is dying (is she?) and tells each Winnie and Pe...

I read this when it came out -- I thought I had written a review --no? It's holding -(all these years later) -a lasting wonderful reading impression. The culture -the relationships: struggles and love -the foods - it was all delicious.

Full review: http://books-n-music.blogspot.com/201.... I never cease to be amazed at the treatment and plight of women throughout history. I'm certain I wouldn't have lived long, 'cause, honestly, my goal would have been to make sure I took out at least a couple of the meanest men with me! Unbelievable to me and so very very sad. How can dismissing half the human race be justified? I assume Tan is accurate in her portrayal of females in China during the early to almost mid-20th Century. And if s...

great story about a relationship between a mother and daughter. we all, to some degree, struggle with our relationships with our mothers. this book made me look deeply at my own relationship with my mom and got me thinking about how much about my mom and her life that i still don't know. my mom is reading this now and we've had some great conversations about this and what it means to our own relationship. this is a wonderful story about (1) the incredible love of a mother; (2) cultural assimilat...

I read this book for the Goodreads' Book Club: Diversity in All Forms! If you'd like to join the discussion here is the link: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...This book is an extremely short read. I read it in less than 24 hours while working and going to school. The story takes a huge turn when Winnie shares what her life was like in China. This is a sad, but eye-opening story that is definitely realistic fiction!"Winnie and Helen have kept each other's worst secrets for more than fifty

The book starts out in contemporary America, and is narrated by Pearl – a second generation Chinese emigrant, who is trying to balance her own 21st century American family life with the needs of her Chinese mother and her mother’s friends. From the third chapter on the narrating is taken over by Winnie, Pearl’s mother, and it transforms into being the story of her life – told against the background of her living in Shanghai in the 1930s and 40s, under the Kuomintang, but with the Communists alre...

Maybe its because I just finished it, but I really liked this book. This is a story of a Chinese woman named "Winnie" and the secrets she keeps from her daughter, not only to protect her daughter, but to protect herself and her best friend. As with many of the books we read, Winnie has had a hard life, almost horrific in some respects but the reason I love her is that the story isn't tragic, she doesn't complain about it (too much), or make herself out to be a hero, well except maybe in her own

Amy Tan writes about women (complex women!) and I think that’s one of the things I love about her books. The men in her stories are shadows, almost undeveloped, with little presence except when they are cruel and threatening. I found this closed women’s world wonderfully refreshing, especially after reading so many books where men are the main focus. In The Godfather, Mario Puzo jumped into Mama Corleone’s point of view for just one small bit; just long enough to reveal that the wife of the mafi...

Secrets. Mothers and daughters nearly always keep secrets from each other. But at some point in life the secrets need to be told....don't they? Winnie, Pearl's mother, faces this dilemma. Winnie's dearest friend Helen is threatening to tell Pearl all of the secrets of Winnie's early years in China. So Winnie decides to tell Pearl her life story before Helen does. Because of course Helen would not tell it correctly anyway.But Pearl has a secret of her own. Will hearing her mother's secrets give h...

| | blog | tumblr | ko-fi | |For a book published in the 90s The Kitchen God's Wife comes across as strangely outdated. And I guess in spite of Tan's writing—which is far from mediocre or incompetent—I could not look past the fact that her story was the antithesis of female solidarity.At first I was taken by Tan's storytelling. The first 40 pages or so, those that take place in the 'present', were enjoyable. We learn that Pearl, a woman in her thirties, has always had a difficult relationship

I was very disappointed with this book. It starts out very very well with a great mother daughter relationship story but soon moves into the story of Winnie’s life which gets very boring and at times even difficult to read.I was very disappointed

I read this book years ago (okay decades). As with the other books I've read by this author, a lot of untold sorrows with a sort of redemption at the end. Good book.

I officially do not want to read anything by Tan again. At least this is how I feel at the moment.Why the three stars: The Kitchen God's Wife is very well written, but I hated what this book was doing to me. The WWII in China is merely a backdrop for the protagonist's personal drama of epic proportions; suffice to say that when something very bad, but not exactly cruel, happened (view spoiler)[(one of protagonist's children dies, quite straightforwardly, of plague) (hide spoiler)], I felt relief...

Had to catch my breath....I just love Amy Tan, and I wanted to give this modern classic five stars because she's certainly worth it as a writer. But I kept hoping and worrying about our main character, Winnie! How many times can one person get f--ed over in a lifetime? Before they're even 30?! I know, I know -- World War II, the Chinese, the Chinese, the Chinese, spousal abuse, the Chinese, the Chinese, the Chinese..... I get it......but I had to suspend my disbelief a bit at the end in a plot i...

I run a zero-tolerance, almost fascistic, kitchen regime.So much that my better half jokingly have referred to herself as "The Kitchen God´s Wife", though with no resemblance at all to the Chinese myth.This is also the reason the novel is on my shelve.I admit I have been reluctant to enter into the universe of Amy Tan, and it turns out with good reason. It is probably a nice book to pick from Oprah Winfrey´s Book Club if you are of Chinese/American descent and have strained family relationships

I love this book. Winnie is so brave. She was stuck with an evil, horrible husband. She went through WW2. Her daughter didn't know all of this about her so she tells her all that she went through. It's a great book about revealing secrets and her daughter learns to admire her mother's strength and find the same in herself. Also, why do so many folks have to marry horrible, awful people?

Ying-gai = I should have. To me, king-gai meant my mother lived a life of regrets that never faded with time.Chance is the first step you take, luck is what comes afterward. I don't know why something that made me so happy then feels so sad now. Maybe that is the way it is with the best memories. Ai-ya!