The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan

The book is divided into four sections. Four Chinese mothers; four American-born daughters; two stories for each woman. The first tells a story from each mother's childhood, and the second section tells an episode from the relationship between each mother and her daughter. The next two sections reveal a bit more of the mothers' pasts and of the mother-daughter relationships. It is a very interesting concept and method of story-telling. I find myself frequently flipping back and forth, to review what I had read before of each mother and daughter. We get a very poignant glimpse into the Chinese psyche, not that there's just one for all!

The Kitchen God's Wife, by Amy Tan

Read and reviewed in May, 2015

A very powerful book, and distrubing. It begins very simply and seemingly ordinary, with a family reunion and wedding. However, as the mother reveals more and more of her past to her daughter, it became very hard to read, especially about Weili's first marriage, the abuse and the heartaches she endured. The story line begins in California, and takes us back to war-torn China, facing first the Japanese and then the Communists. War and politics are only a background for Weili's troubles, though.

Spring Moon, by Bette Bao Lord

Read, reviewed, and given to a friend in June, 2015

I didn't want this book to end!
Spring Moon is a family saga, continuing through several generations, through many wars and revolutions. China has had a very turbulent history, and this is reflected in the fictional families of Chang and Woo. We follow the young girl, Spring Moon (born in 1877) into adolescence and womanhood, marriage, motherhood, heartbreak and tragedy. Her mother-in-law, on her deathbed, predicts that Spring Moon will live to see five generations.
Mrs. Lord is an excellent writer, conveying the history of China through the eyes of one woman and her family. At the same time we are brought into the sequestered world of 19th century privileged women, confined and bound by tradition, but still feeling hope, love, and despair behind closed doors. Each chapter begins with ancient tale, legend, or note of history, which adds understanding. Also, there is a timeline of the events of Chinese history from the ancient legendary era to 1981, the date of the book's publication.

The Good Earth, by Pearl S. Buck

Read, reviewed, and released in June, 2012

I am glad I bought it, and glad I read it! I thought it was something I "should" read, as it is a well-known classic, but I didn't know I would enjoy it so much. I couldn't put it down, took it everywhere, read it at the table and in bed.

It is a story of a man, a Chinese farmer sometime before the Revolution, and his everyday life, his family, his ambitions, hopes and dreams, losses and disappointments all told in a somewhat formal, almost stilted style. The man and his wife are named (Wang Lung and O-lan), but his children are only eldest son, younger son, third son, younger daughter, and "poor fool", his "imbecile" daughter who could only smile and play with a piece of cloth.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel, by Lisa See

Book image courtesy of Amazon.com

Read, reviewed, and released in December, 2009

This is a historical novel, very well researched, of women in a 19th century Chinese village, dealing with lifelong friendship, misunderstanding, betrayal, hurt, anger and reconciliation against a backdrop of village life, culture, tradition, epidemics, sorrow, joy, and a peasant uprising. It is not a very long book (253 pages), but it is excellent in my opinion.

It was very difficult to read of the cruel, torturous practice of binding the feet of young girls, mutilating them. I had heard of footbinding, but I did't know how agonizing it was. But there was much more to the book than this, and it was truly eye-opening to read of the culture, customs, and traditions of a people about whom I knew little.