The Kitchen God's Wife

I cannot read Amy Tan books just on a whim. I have to prepare myself and surround myself with other more light-hearted books. There is a brutality to her writing that gets me every time, but there is always beauty as well. It is no surprise - ever - to learn women were treated horrifically in China. Nor is it a secret that daughters do not appreciate their mothers until their true stories fill their ears. The Kitchen God's Wife is a good read, but it's not a feel good story!

Much like The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God's Wife drifts between the present-day relationships of mother and daughter, and stories of a complicated past. It's enjoyable, difficult to predict, and emotionally charged.

Counting this as my China book around the world.

This book was strong, well written, and engaging. Also, very depressing but made the end even more satisfying. Winnie was absolutely someone who I completely rooted for since her story started. These immigrant mom-child books always make me grateful for my own mother (who also lived through communism) and I always find myself liking the mothers so much more than the daughters. That tidbit makes me so grateful I wasn't more of an asshole growing up. This book really resonated with me, and I'm glad I discovered Amy Tan.

This book starts slower that most of Tan's other stuff, but once you get going, it's enthralling. The main characters are well drawn and likeable, similar to her characters from 100 Secret Senses. One warning, the characters that you are supposed to dislike are very dislikeable...I frequently got angry reading this book.

Second reading, 25 years after the first reading: sad, trauma upon trauma, very dark. What did I think of this as a teenager, I wonder. What tiny fingerprint did it leave on my impressionable brain?

The parts that take place in the present day (which is to say, 1980s San Francisco) really resonate with me. They even make me feel nostalgic for San Francisco.