The Kitchen God's Wife

I really enjoyed this book but my Book Club members often said, "This wasn't like Bonesetter's Daughter." True, Bonesetter's Daughter is great, but I still enjoyed this insight into Chinese culture and the mother-daughter relationship was fun to be a part of. The first 100 pages are a littel slow to start.

Beautifully descriptive, the story of a Chinese immigrant, Winnie (Weiwei), and her American daughter, Pearl. In ventures from present to past, crossing continents, and decades, Weiwei’s life stories unfold, revealing the secrets of mother, to daughter.
Weiwei marries an American soldier and immigrates to America. Their daughter, Pearl, is daughter, is born in San Jose. Growing up, Pearl finds her mother’s cultural ways, too protective and overbearing. Even as an adult, Pearl secrets her life from her mother, even hiding an illness. Weiwei feels hurt by the uncomfortable distance that separates them.
Weiwei and Helen, friends for many years, suffered through the terrible war In China and after, the subsequent communist takeover. In San Jose, they co-own a shop and see each other every day. Determined to bring mother and daughter together, Helen concocts a plan.
A richly woven tale of sensitivity and beauty, displaying incredible sorrow, tenderness, and love. Excellent book; five stars.

I liked the book but the recording is of ridiculously poor quality. I almost could not listen to it. It was like someone called the author on a phone line from the 1970's and recorded her reading the book.

My mother recommended it. So glad she did! Amy Tan is an outstanding author. With her words she paints an everlasting picture on your heart. A must read for anyone who loves a heart wrenching journey filled with life lessons.

I adore the way Amy Tan intertwines more than one story line into her books, at first glance it seems that the tale centers on Pearl, the daughter of a Chinese immigrant, who has morphed into the modern American culture and who finds her mother annoying and old fashioned at times. Once the reader gets familiar with Pearl the story then turns back to her mother, Winnie and her childhood friend Helen. Winnie's story is sad and beautiful at the same time, her suffering and struggles to overcome an abusive husband who's been keeping her from freedom half her life are intense and emotionally moving. Tan's rich, descriptive writing has deep meanings hidden in words. I found myself laughing quite often, which was a surprise because the story is pretty intense. As usual the author supplies us with deep insight into the ugly reality of life, one of my favorite lines was on page 352, "The society is like bright pain applied on top of a rotten wood" which made me stop and think, digest and absorb her wise words, Tan is a master of writing tales with imperfect characters, so many of them have so called rotten bases, and their struggle to improve and move on make the tale even more vivid and intense. In this case it was the way of life for Pearl in wartime China, the harsh reality was that she didn't have much of a saying; all the older men and women in her house seemed to run her life, and the male dominated culture didn't help when the girl was going through hardship, if anything it made her life more hellish, and at times it was hard to read but I continued, good books aren't always pretty.

This was a good and potent read, I must warn readers that they might get angry at the bad men in Pearl's life, but her struggles never diminished her personality and her big heart, which she has to this day. I feel that Tan's books not only entertain but also teach a lot, not to mention show us how life in the past was so much harsher, and remind us of individual struggles that women still have to go through, whether they are someone's wife or daughter or best friend, and that deep down we are strong, and our stories are beautiful, and that life might never be fair, but we try our best to fight for it.

- Kasia S.

Two stories in one, down to the smallest details.

The first story, in the first hundred or so pages, a Chinese-American daughter, describes her first-generation American life: the interactions within her family and with the non-Chinese around them. Like all first-generation experiences, the apples fall much closer to the tree than they want to admit to themselves. The small details of how the older generation talks, what they expect, what traditions they keep, are sometimes poignant, and sometimes funny. But in a subdued way -- first you laugh out loud, and then (unless you came on the Mayflower) you smile as you recognize yourself, or your own mother.

The second story, which continues for most of the remainder, is the mother's retelling of her WWII experience as a Nationalist. Much harsher, with abuse, violence, poverty, starvation, war. Here the American reader may (as some other reviewers have) just get upset and think it's two dimensional fiction with a politically incorrect message. But, as more than a digression, go read Bette Bao Lord's interviews -- real stories of that period in China. Amy Tan is writing fiction in name only. And through the mother's suffering and struggles, we learn again what are the hallmarks of Chinese culture -- not only tradition, but a combination of resignation and persistence through the hardest of times. Of course the addition from a story like The Kitchen God's Wife is the rebirth in America.

The story ends back with the mother and daughter, both changed for having shared their real story of Chinese people in China, and in America.

In her second novel, "The Kitchen God's Wife", Amy Tan explores in another angle the subjects she so successfully addressed in her debut, "The joy luck club". Here, after a slow start, the narrative takes off bounding past and present, mother and daughter. When we first meet Jiang Weili is through the eyes of her 40-year-old daughter, Pearl, who doesn't have a nice view of her mother, whose she adopted years later is Winnie Louie.

But it is again through her eyes - and ears - that we will learn her mother's story. Both mother and daughter have kept secrets from each other, and, one of the aims of the narrative is to both release the burden by telling the truth. Weiwei story is long and sad. It is told by her to Pearl, and it is so mesmerizing that readers feel sorry every time she has to break her narrative.

While the character is telling her story, the daughter's - and the reader's as well - conception about Weiwei changes. As Tan displayed her talents in her previous book, she is a writer capable of bringing readers from laughs to tears in one paragraph. Her prose is additive and we may fail to notice some problems in the book, such as the stereotypes and plastered narrative. On the other hand, the story she is telling is so strong and relevant that one can easily turn a blind eye on the faults.

I have always loved Amy Tan, but for some reason, The Kitchen God's Wife has been sitting on my shelf for 8 years without being read. I picked it up two weeks ago and absolutely COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. In my opinion, it is her very best work, which is saying something big. As per usual, Tan is really playing on her strength as a storyteller and giving us a multi-layered history of a mother and daughter struggling with their relationship on a number of different levels. We also see the cultural difficulties that can come with being a "hyphenated American."
Kitchen God's Wife reads more like a dual narrative memoir than a novel. So true to life, so shocking, so endearing, so funny. After having finished this book I can state, with absolute honesty, that Amy Tan is one of the best female authors living. She weaves her stories with such expertise and sincerity. She is matchless in my opinion. I was sad to come to the end of this work. It is timeless and very, very human. A perfect novel.

I've had a hard time finishing this book, because Winnie's tragic life has been so alike to the stories of the mothers of the "Joy Luck Club because the basic settings of both books are an unresolved communication problem between an Asian American daughter and her Chinese mother. In this book, Pearl is afraid to tell Winnie about being, and Winnie is afraid to tell Pearl of her own secret - a bad marriage in China. "Auntie" Helen, Winnie's long time friend and foe, threatens both to reveal their secrets if they don't do that themselves until the Chinese New Year. In the next part of her book, Winnie narrates her long, "tragic" marriage to a man named Wen Fu back in China during WW2, which is supposed to be somehow connected to the Chinese myth of the Kitchen God's wife - which was a VERY good wife to a very bad man herself.
Winnie did not stir any sympathy from me. At first, being a very young and innocent girl, I can inderstand why Winnie does not run away. But after a while, it seems all Winnie wants to do is complain about Wen Fu and show to the whole world how bad he is. She can't understand why his friends don't realize who he really is - what she sometimes sees as him being mean to them, they see as a joke. Even when she does try to escape from him, it seems those tries are doomed from the start because she manages to choose the best ways to annoy Wen Fu and damage his pride.The story also seemed to repeat itself a few times (Wen /Fu is mean, Winnie tries to escape but can't), and none of the characters seemed to change much each time, except for maybe Wen Fu, who get meaner by the page, and turns into a less credible character.
We're also exposed to Winnie's vain and jealous side - in the way she treats Helen... Almost everything Helen does is bad or wrong - from Winnie's high class point of view, of course. Never mind that Helen got the better, more understanding and more superior husband...
The only thing about this book which raised its mark from 1 start to 3 is Amy Tan's superb writing. Many people who liked the "Joy Luck Club" would probably like this book too, as long as they don't expect it too be THAT different. People who didn't like the latter would probably won't like this one either.

An absolutely terrific novel that looks at the complex relationships between mother and daughters, female friends, and husband and wives. The book takes place both in modern day America and World War II China, Amy Tan's writing does a superb job of placing the reader in each of these time periods. As you read you'll find yourself transported into the complex story of countries at war and women fighting their own inner wars.

A great read that I'd highly recommend...to everyone.

This is fiction that comes alive through vivid details, realistic dialogues, fast-paced storytelling and credible characters fleshed out by Amy Tan. Through the description of the life story of the protagonist Winnie Louie, Amy convincingly conjures up the situation in China in the early part of the 20th century, with its wars, chaos, political uprisings, customs and traditions. Although generally accurate in her depiction of China, there were some glaring errors in the explanation of Chinese terms. For example, Amy translated "tang jie" as sugar sisters, when in fact, the term just means female cousins of the paternal side with the same surname. She also explained "Open the door, you can already see the mountain" as grabbing all opportunities and turning them into something big, when it just means getting straight to the point and not beating about the bush. However, these factual accuracies are extremely minor and they do not affect the flow of the story.

The use of different voices to tell the story is indeed a smart move on the part of Amy, for it spices up the story and better enables the reader to follow the storyline. It is evident that Amy took pains to craft the dialogues such that the voices of Winnie and her daughter can be easily distinguished. While her daughter speaks with a more contemptuous and superficial tone, Winnie's was more stolid and mature.

I enjoyed reading the last few chapters of the book for they gave the story an unexpected twist and did a good job in tying the loose ends of the story. You will also discover for yourself why this book is named "Kitchen God's Wife" - though the reason is really quite subtle. My attention wondered off the book occasionally but was swiftly recalled, thanks to skilful storytelling by Amy. More than just a story about life in China, the atrocities of war, soured marriages, themes of infidelity and perseverance, the book is about the unspoken bond between mothers and daughters. Steering away from the usual heart-wrenching and tear-jerking narrating, Amy employs a light-hearted approach to portray a potentially serious theme of mother-daughter love. Pretty inspirational. Kudos to Amy.

Great insight into Family relationships, especially between mothers and daughter. Sad what women had to suffer and dad many women still suffer in relationships without having baby help or even feeling trapped for lack of trust.

The truth is that the first couple of chapters are not very
exciting at all! Yet I can not put the book down when Winnie, the narrator of her own life in the book, began to reveal to her daughter, Pearl, that her mother disappeared, might have died, or ran away with another man, when she was at a very young age. When Winnie was about seventeen, she married Wen Fu, whom she discovered later to be a cruel, spoiled, and power thirsty man. The marriage turned out to be the worst nightmare of her life. She made the decision to gave up all the children from Wen Fu by abortion because she didn't want them to live under such a father. Then came the Japanese invasion into China, and this war gave her the chance to meet someone who truly loves her, and a chance to escape to a better life. The part I liked the most was the message behind Lady Sorrowfree. We should always keep in mind to have our "happiness winning our bitterness, no regrets in this world."

I didn't actually "read" Kitchen God's Wife, however, I listened to it on an audiotape version. I started "listening" to books when I had a long commute to work and sometimes it is difficult to get your head programmed into the audiobook but not so with this read. I actually think that listening to this story is actually a benefit - not that Amy Tan needs any help with describing events. The only downside is I found myself in tears behind the wheel of my car! However, the background music and Amy's beautiful voice - really make the characters come to life even more.

This is such a powerful read and one need not be of Chinese heritage to appreciate it. Love, loss, survival and pain are a universal theme and Amy Tan surely hits on each in this novel.

The heroine, Winnie, has overcome such incredible loss and hurt -it is amazing she has anything left to give in her later years. I believe her loss made her want to love even more. Her incredible spirit and huge capacity for giving - especially to her daughter Pearl is beautiful.

I must admit that at one point I thought "how can she take one more thing", but she does.

This story is a testament to human spirit and I missed the characters one the book was finished. This is the first Amy Tan novel I've read and do plan on reading more.

This was a good story about mother daughter relationships as well as Chinese culture. It did seem to drag in some spots but then would pick up the pace. Looking forward to reading The Bonesetter’s Daughter.

The story begins with a young, Chinese woman who was born and raised in the USA and who thinks of her mom as a fussy, little, charicature of a China-Town shop-keeper. She has no concept of the life (or lives) that her mother lead in her 7+ decades on Earth. A family friend tricks the old woman into telling her daughter her story - a very long story full of romance, violence and turmoil.

Entertainment Value:
The first several chapters read like the Old Testament - detailing who is related to who and how. After that backround is established, it becomes more the story of one main character and details about what her relationships were with those people.

While some may find such gossip fun, I was more interested by the revelations about what life was like in pre-Communist China. It was a time when "modern" things like automobiles and telephones were widely available, but not necessarily affordable to the common person. The female-centric aspect was also very interesting. As a male who has seen much "reverse discrimination", I've never put much stock in western women's complaints about being treated as "slaves" or "chattel". In my experience, they are the ones with all the unfair advantages. This story reinforced that perception of mine; that modern, western women don't have a clue of what such oppression truely is and would benefit greatly from reading this story of what real hardship is.

Characters:
The characters were very strange to me - at first. But by the time I finished the story, I felt like I knew them quite intimately. Like the young woman at the beginning of the story, I see old, foreign, impoverished people in the US and I tend to see only charicatures. I tend to overlook the fact that, with so many decades behind them, and so many travels and travails, they likely have very interesting stories and very good reasons for being who they are.

After-Effects:
While I found the beginning of the story, with all of it's begets and begots to be quite tedious, by the end of the story, I felt like I knew all of those people, and that their stories were important to me. Some books just end - plop! - after the major plot complications are resolved. This one went on for a chapter or two - something like an epilogue, but not quite. It was more of a old-world Chinese-style of delicately finishing up, letting the reader come down from the drama of the story to remember that the world goes on.

The Kitchen God's Wife reminded me of The Bonesetter's Daughter in that it was much about mothers, daughters, secrets, and life in China before immigrating to America.

The book tells the story of Winnie, a young girl who survives a harrowing childhood and then a disastrous marriage in war-torn China. Winnie eventually immigrates to America and then keeps her life in China a secret from her daughter, Pearl. The course of the novel follows Winnie as she tells her daughter all of her secrets and the two become closer.

While I enjoyed The Kitchen God's Wife, and I think it is worth reading, it was difficult to absorb at times. For one, Winnie's first marriage, to an abusive coward named Wen Fu, was frustrating at times. I understand that a woman's place in 1940s China was very limited, but I couldn't help feeling that Winnie was so worried about shame and being impolite that she wouldn't do what was necessary to save herself and her children. In many ways, I felt that she allowed herself to be taken advantage of, and it was difficult to read about that.

Secondly, I wouldn't recommend reading this novel in close proximity to The Bonesetter's Daughter. The two stories are too similar. Of the two, I think I liked The Bonesetter's Daughter better, because I felt the female characters were a bit stronger.

Though it's beginning isn't exactly engrossing - at least not to me, as the main character seemed a married, middle-aged woman with boring family problems - the story really picked up when the woman's mother tells her story of life in China during World War II. It is really a different perspective, for all you who read about wars, and those that don't even like to. It is a story most heartfelt and so very realistic. ...There's something about Amy Tan's style - she doesn't dress up her story, everything is plainly told, and yet the work is just full of details and I find myself reading word-for-word unconsciously.
"The Kitchen God's Wife" refers to Winnie (the mother's) life being in the shadow of her corrupt and malicious husband, herself helpless and overlooked. In my opinion, this book is a much better plot than The Joy Luck Club, and has a more dramatic theme. And while it may be long and seemingly tedious, it is worth every word!!