Must Read: ‘The Joy Luck Club’ by Amy Tan

In the corner of a small San Francisco apartment, four women sit at a well-worn mahogany table for their ritualistic game of mahjong. The eldest three are seasoned players, long-time companions and competitors. With the recent passing of their champion fourth member, Suyuan Woo, the group has passed the torch to her daughter Jing-Mei to take her mother’s place. But Jing-Mei approaches the game with unease – after all, how can a girl fill the shoes of her mother?

Seated firmly at an intersection of cultural and generational divides, ‘The Joy Luck Club’ by Amy Tan delves into the complexities of mother-daughter relationships. The novel, published in 1989, was a New York Times bestseller for over 30 weeks. Tan uses a unique structure of four parts divided into four sections each – subtly modeled after the classic mahjong game. It alternates between eight perspectives; four sets of Chinese women and their respective American-born daughters. This exploration of motherhood and daughterhood makes it a must-read for any woman.

The mothers of ‘The Joy Luck Club’ divulge the struggles of their childhoods in China, and subsequent struggles as immigrants to the United States. These chapters ring heartachingly genuine, like words confessed to a friend. There’s a reason The Washington Post called the novel “powerful as myth” – its pages brim with vibrant details cascading off the page, of desolate tragedies and lives left behind. Lives of luxury and poverty, of earnest heartbreak and true love, are painted with a near-tangible physicality. 

These women have sacrificed consistently – and at times, unwillingly – to create the worlds in which their daughters were raised. To readers, they detail every forsaken joy, forfeited pleasure, and upset morsel of peace. These are the stories of four mothers who bring to mind a well-known but unattributed quote: “A mother’s sacrifice is not just in what she gives up, but also in what she silently endures for her children.” 

And yet, they don’t quite understand their daughters and their American ways. As Tan narrates on page 286 of the novel: “I raised a daughter, watching her from another shore. I accepted her American ways (…) how can I leave this world without leaving her my spirit?” 

These are four girls raised by Chinese mothers in a decidedly non-Chinese culture. These women must reconcile the disconnect between the societies they live in and the families they come from. 

They face incessant pressure – from their peers, from their families, from their mothers. They spend their lives grappling with unstable cultural footing and a ruthless desire to do what is right. And they don’t quite understand their mothers’ motives.

At the end of the day, each character’s desire is to be understood. Tan’s book highlights the importance of understanding where we come from, and connecting with one another through a familial love that transcends generations. 

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