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The Kitchen God's Wife

3.9 of 5 stars 3.90 · rating details · 34,890 ratings · 1,142 reviews

Winnie and Helen have kept each other's worst secrets for more than fifty years. Now, because she believes she is dying, Helen wants to expose everything. And Winnie angrily determines that she must be the one to tell her daughter, Pearl, about the past—including the terible truth even Helen does not know. And so begins Winnie's story of her life on a small island outside...more

Paperback, 416 pages

Published September 21st 2006 by Penguin Books (first published 1991)

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Mar 27, 2013 Willowfaerie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: china

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...more

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Aug 14, 2007 Julia rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: mothers and daughters

Shelves: readitandlovedit

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...more

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Jun 04, 2008 Julie rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is my favorite of Amy Tan's books. I loved it!

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Jan 14, 2009 Hollie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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...more

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Jul 18, 2008 Joyce rated it 4 of 5 stars

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...more

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Jul 27, 2008 Erin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, favorite-authors

Reading a book by Amy Tan is like getting back in touch with a old friend. Because her characters and plots tend to be consistent from book to book, there's a constant feeling of familiarity and predictability - but in a good way. If you liked the Joy Luck Club or the Bonesetter's Daughter - you're definitey going to like this book as well.

Let’s face it, it’s difficult to find a more dramatic backdrop for a novel than China during WW2 – with the Japanese invaders, the Kuomintang, the Communists...more

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Mar 31, 2009 Deryl rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really liked the story of this book. This book takes you through a journey from 1920's China through today. Although the story line was difficult to read because of the hard life of the main character, I thought that the journey she took was very interesting and explained a lot of why she acted as she did towards her daughter later in life.

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Sep 22, 2007 Hyun Jung rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: advisory07-08

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 21, 2013 Kelli rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a fascinating novel. The story Winnie tells of her life in China under the oppressive thumb of her very abusive hateful husband is heartbreaking and disturbing, and yet her ability to make meaning from it is inspiring. Trying to forget your own problems by looking at another's misery "only makes you feel afraid. You are only thinking about what more you can lose, not hoping for something better." Toward the end of her tragic time in China, Winnie finally becomes empowered. Something--may...more

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Oct 23, 2007 Karschtl rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bc, drama, 5-stars, read-in-2005

I enjoyed this book very much! One of the rare cases where I gave the full 10 stars at Bookcrossing. Here with only 5 stars I give them a little tiny bit more often.
Anyway, very well written, easy to read (because of the 'simple' language Winnie uses) and an absolutely interesting tale. Shocking at times and I felt sorry for Winnie more than once. I was glad that I knew from the beginning that at some point her life changed for the better.

Bought my own copy later on, after this one here had trav...more

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Aug 23, 2007 Brandon O'Neill rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: readers who like Amy Tan/interested in China

My 2nd Amy Tan novel after being forced to read Joy Luck Club (and liking it) my freshman year in college. A bit different in focus than I expected - I thought it would follow the daughter's relationship with her mother, husband and own children, but follows Winnie through her own rough life in China. Wen Fu certainly is a villain to root against. But, after reading about how horrible Wen Fu is, and how horrible men are in Isabelle Allende's House of Spirits, I need a positive male role model!
M...more

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Aug 02, 2007 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is really amazing. For anyone who liked Amy Tan's "The Joy-Luck Club," this is the perfect counterpart. I always enjoy the world and relationships that Tan creates of first and second generation Chinese immigrant families in the U.S. "The Kitchen Gods Wife" is not a sequel, but a piece that stands on its own. Some of the situations and thematic elements do seem to mirror "Joy-Luck" at certain points in this novel, but not to the point that it's annoying or redundant. It's a simple, eas...more

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Jan 07, 2009 Antof9 rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2004-read, americana, immigrants, made-me-cry, women

I really really liked this book!

First, I'm always interested to read what I would call "ethnic" books, where neither the author nor the story are about white-bread Americans. My dad came to America from the old country (The Netherlands), and even though this mom comes from China, there are still some similarities in their stories. I was also intrigued by Pearl's relationship with her mom. These types of relationships are always interesting, and although my exposure to Amy Tan is only this book...more I really really liked this book!

First, I'm always interested to read what I would call "ethnic" books, where neither the author nor the story are about white-bread Americans. My dad came to America from the old country (The Netherlands), and even though this mom comes from China, there are still some similarities in their stories. I was also intrigued by Pearl's relationship with her mom. These types of relationships are always interesting, and although my exposure to Amy Tan is only this book and the movie of The Joy Luck Club (haven't read the book yet, but I will), I know that this is a relationship she has studied in depth. I can hear the conversations in my head when I read them!

This book jumps around a bit from the author's perspective. At first, it's a little confusing to know if it's Pearl or her mother, Winnie, speaking. But once you get into it, it makes sense.

This book is very hard to describe without giving away a lot of information. Basically, Pearl is sick, and part of her dilemma is that most everyone around her knows . . . except her mother. She was all set to bring it up and tell her, but every time she tried, her mother started talking. Next thing she knew, a lot of time had passed, and it was like a secret she was keeping from Winnie. ". . . that's when it hits me the hardest: I have this terrible disease and I've never told her. I meant to tell her. There were several times when I planned to do exactly that. When I was first diagnosed, I said, 'Ma, you know that slight problem with my leg I told you about. Well, thank God, it turned out not to be cancer, but --' And right away, she told me about a customer of hers who had just died of cancer, how long he had sufferered, how many wreaths the family had ordered."

Shortly after this, the storyteller role jumps out of Pearl's hands and into Winnie's. Winnie is very matter-of-fact, and says really shocking things in a completely normal way. "I never told you about my mother? That she left me? Oh. That's because I never wanted to believe it myself. So maybe that's why I did not tell you about her."

One of the best descriptions of Winnie is by Jimmy Louie. "'. . . the way you could do anything, dance with broken shoes or in your bare feet. Fragile-looking, yet strong and brave, the kind of person nothing could stop.' This is true, your father said that. He thought I was a strong person. I had never thought about myself that way. I don't know why he believed that. The rest of his life he believed that about me." Reading this book, you definitely feel her strength. The things she goes through are so heavy. Only a truly strong person would actually live through them.

There's so much more, to talk about in this book ... might be a good book club book.(less)

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Jan 29, 2013 Nshslibrary rated it 2 of 5 stars

Despite some abusive stories, the Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan is a warm-hearted book that depicts a mother-daughter relationship. Winnie is a Chinese-born woman who is a mother of an American-born daughter, Pearl, and a fugitive from her aggressive ex-husband. Hoping to improve her relationship with Pearl that was exacerbated when she slapped Pearl for not crying at her beloved second husband, Jimmy’s, funeral, Winnie shares her deeply hidden secrets with Pearl. While Winnie narrates her stori...more

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Jan 25, 2013 Julie rated it 3 of 5 stars

I have read 2 of Amy Tans other books and really enjoyed them,this is no exception. Amy Tan writes with more than 1 story line running through her book. The story starts off with the problems facing many 2nd generation immigrant famillies, pearl has been born in America and brought up as an American, and married to an American, whilst her mother ,Winnie is Chinese and came to America before Pearl was born, the first story line explores the mother,daughter relationship which is very difficult bec...more

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Dec 20, 2012 Linda Brown rated it 1 of 5 stars

I was searching for a book to read and this is one of the books that popped up. I remember the Joy Luck club being a talked about movie in its day so I thought that the Kitchen God's Wife would be a book to try. A caveat - it is out of my normal genre but I do read different books from time to time and enjoy them. This was not one of them. What a boring story. There are endless descriptions of country sides and buildings that are bland. It is a woman looking back at a time in her life and it is...more

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Aug 07, 2012 Arwen56 rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: romanzi

Quando un libro piace è assai facile scriverne il commento, che sgorga spontaneo. Anche quando un libro non piace è semplice commentarlo, perché si focalizza l’attenzione su quanto di “stonato” vi si è trovato. Abbastanza agevole è pure scrivere la recensione di un libro che, anche se non lo si è apprezzato pienamente, si è dimostrato essere quanto meno originale nella trama o per il modo in cui è scritto.
Il problema è, invece, parlare di quei libri che, forse, Roberto Vecchioni definirebbe “co...more Quando un libro piace è assai facile scriverne il commento, che sgorga spontaneo. Anche quando un libro non piace è semplice commentarlo, perché si focalizza l’attenzione su quanto di “stonato” vi si è trovato. Abbastanza agevole è pure scrivere la recensione di un libro che, anche se non lo si è apprezzato pienamente, si è dimostrato essere quanto meno originale nella trama o per il modo in cui è scritto.
Il problema è, invece, parlare di quei libri che, forse, Roberto Vecchioni definirebbe “così così”: non belli e non brutti, non originali e non banali, non ben scritti, ma neppure mal scritti. Insomma, una roba a metà strada a qualsiasi livello.

La moglie del dio dei fuochi è un romanzo di questo tipo. La storia prende avvio da un fidanzamento e da una morte, che sono l’occasione per cui tutta la famiglia di cino-americani si riunisce ed il momento in cui zia Helen, una delle protagoniste, comunica a Winnie ed a Pearl, rispettivamente madre e figlia, che, a suo parere, è giunto il momento che ciascuna racconti all’altra quanto si sono sinora taciute per timore di ferirsi. “Se non lo fate voi”, afferma, “lo farò io”, non lasciando in questo modo alcuna scelta alle dirette interessate.

Nella prima parte, assai breve, si comincia a prendere confidenza con i personaggi, si apprende che le generazioni più giovani sono nate e cresciute in America, paese cui ritengono di appartenere totalmente, mentre le generazioni più vecchie sono nate ed hanno vissuto buona parte della loro vita in Cina, cui si sentono ancora parzialmente legati e si viene anche a sapere che Pearl è stata colpita dalla sclerosi multipla, malattia perfida il cui altalenante andamento è fonte di continua angoscia. E questo è appunto il “segreto” che la giovane donna dovrà rivelare alla madre.

La seconda, lunghissima parte è invece il racconto particolareggiato della vita di Winnie in Cina, dell’abbandono, ancora piccola, da parte della madre, del suo sfortunato matrimonio, degli anni della seconda guerra mondiale, del fortuito incontro con quello che sarà poi il suo secondo marito, per giungere infine a rivelare a Pearl il suo “segreto”. La materia riversata nel libro è indubbiamente ricca e varia, forse anche troppo, tanto da apparire leggermente “hollywoodiana”. La scrittura è agevole e scorrevole, sebbene non particolarmente degna di nota. La ricostruzione storica parrebbe abbastanza fedele, anche se, onestamente, non è che io conosca molto la storia cinese di quel periodo (e neppure degli altri, per essere esatti). Tuttavia, il romanzo non decolla. Non ci annoia, ma neppure vi si partecipa granché. Forse, la parte migliore e più “sentita” resta quella in cui Pearl racconta del suo quotidiano convivere con la sua malattia e del modo in cui la condivide col marito e con le figlie, ma è davvero troppo poco per poter definire questo libro “buona letteratura”.

E’ un libro “così così”. Quindi non ve lo consiglio, ma neppure ve lo sconsiglio.
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Apr 07, 2012 Kathy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was an 'easy' read, probably due to the consistent first-person narration for the bulk of the story, but I both enjoyed it and found it worthwhile.

In a way, the main character, Winnie, reminded me of my own grandmother, although they were from a totally different ethnic backgrounds. The similarity was found in how both made it through unimaginable hardships in their earlier lives, yet just 'went on' without complaining or giving in. One of my favorite quotes from the book was the old C...more

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May 20, 2011 Cyndy Aleo rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, women-s-fiction

I've been a fan of Amy Tan's writings since I first read The Joy Luck Club. While her books tend to focus on China and the lives of Chinese immigrants, their focus on the complex relationships between mothers and daughters is universal, and I've given some of her books to my mother to read after I've finished with them. Why, then, did I have no recollection of ever reading The Kitchen God's Wife when I know that I've had it for years?

::: Mother? Check. Daughter? Check. Chinese Background? Check....more I've been a fan of Amy Tan's writings since I first read The Joy Luck Club. While her books tend to focus on China and the lives of Chinese immigrants, their focus on the complex relationships between mothers and daughters is universal, and I've given some of her books to my mother to read after I've finished with them. Why, then, did I have no recollection of ever reading The Kitchen God's Wife when I know that I've had it for years?

::: Mother? Check. Daughter? Check. Chinese Background? Check. :::

Tan's books almost always have a plot that centers around a Chinese-American daughter and her immigrant mother, in this case, Pearl and her mother Winnie. As with many of Tan's mother-daughter teams, Winnie was widowed when Pearl was fairly young, which serves to narrow the focus of the relationship. As The Kitchen God's Wife opens, Pearl is heading to yet another engagement party for her cousin, Bao-Bao, who is actually a close family friend. She doesn't want to go because of the complicated history with many of the parties involved, particularly her "cousin" Mary, who knows the secret that Pearl hasn't told her mother: Pearl has multiple sclerosis (MS). Mary and Pearl had been best friends until Mary confided Pearl's secret to her mother, Helen, and as the family gathering transpires, Helen threatens to tell Winnie about Pearl's MS unless Pearl does it herself first.

A funeral for Helen's aunt, who was actually closer to Winnie, coincides with the timing of the engagement party, and lets loose a storm of emotions in Pearl, leading up to the conversation with her mother where she tells her of her MS. Unbeknownst to Pearl, however, Helen has also pushed Winnie to reveal her own secrets, and so the middle section of the book begins.

Winnie and Helen weren't actually sisters-in-law, as they had often claimed. Winnie was actually the daughter of one of her father's several wives, and was farmed off to poorer relations after her mother ran off with no explanation. A marriage was arranged for Winnie that looked promising, but her husband turned out to be a nightmare: cruel and even sadistic in the bedroom, a coward in the military, and both feared and sought after by his comrades. Winnie and her husband are moved from military base to military base, finally fleeing to a remote village as World War II progresses. Time after time, Winnie is traumatized by her husband's actions, and loses child after child, some stillborn, some to infant illnesses. Her only friend is her husband's commanding officer's wife, who we learn to be Helen.

When Winnie meets the Chinese-American officer Jimmy at a military dance, she learns that all men aren't like her husband, and is left at a crossroads. We already know that Jimmy was the husband who widowed her, but the mystery of how she left her husband and China and sponsored Helen is the story she reveals to Pearl.

::: Cross the Ts and Dot the Is, and Voila! It's Done! :::

For some reason, this is my least favorite of all Tan's books. The story seems completely formulaic, and lacks any sort of transition between the present story of Pearl and Winnie and the past history of Winnie and Helen. Where The Bonesetter's Daughter had the plot device of a mother with Alzheimer's memoirs being translated and read, the matching mother-daughter secrets and the "aunt" feigning a possible brain tumor to bring them together seems forced.

Tan's daughters are usually middle-aged and full of angst for one reason or another, but Pearl is the most shallowly-drawn of them all. I never felt any attachment to her, as I've done with Tan's other daughters, and honestly, wanted to slap her most of the time she appeared in the book. Rather than seeming stoic and reserved with her diagnosis and her mother, she seemed whiny and petulant, and her sudden hatred of her former best friend over something so silly as her friend's ignorance of the right thing to say with regard to Pearl's MS seems petty. Rather than sitting down with her friend and having a heart-to-heart, as you'd expect friends who've grown up together their entire lives would, Pearl just cuts her off with annoyance.

Tan has written some compelling stories of mothers and daughters, but when the character development is thin and the story jumps around, what was a wonderful common theme becomes formulaic. The mythology of the Kitchen God seems shoehorned into the story, and doesn't make a great deal of sense, even though the symbolism is supposed to apply to Winnie's story. The Kitchen God's Wife feels like a novel that was cranked out under a contract deadline, and lacks the feeling and compassion of Tan's other novels. It can definitely be missed.

This review originally published on Epinions: http://www.epinions.com/review/The_Ki...(less)

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Sep 05, 2010 Diana rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 11th-advisory

The Kitchen God's Wife
By Amy Tan
The Ballantine Publishing Group
532pgs $7.99
ISBN: 0-8041-0753

Imagine yourself as Winnie, a single mother who took care of her daughter, Pearl, with secrets she's been hiding away to keep her daughter living happily, without letting Pearl know about her past. Winnie only had her best friend, Helen, and Pearl, but there are some secrets that Winnie kept to herself that even Helen doesn't know about. Before Pearl was born, Winnie lived in China and met Pearl's father...more

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Jun 19, 2010 Kasia S. rated it 5 of 5 stars

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...more 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.
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Mar 05, 2010 Mimi rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Now that I've read 2 of Ms. Tan's novels (THE KITCHEN GOD'S WIFE and THE BONESETTER'S DAUGHTER) and seen the movie THE JOY LUCK CLUB, I can honestly identify her as one of my favorite authors. Her wonderful story-telling ability, believable characters and fascinating exploration of Chinese culture and history make her stories some of the best I've read in a long time.

The story begins when both Winnie and her daughter Pearl are put in a position whereby they both have to reveal their secrets to e...more

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Feb 06, 2010 Shiela rated it 3 of 5 stars

The author used the 'story w/in a story' approach. Imagine a movie with lots of flashbacks, that's how this story was presented. story-wise, i can say this book was good. words used were very simple. straight. conversational. however, there was one downside on the author's style (i sometimes got annoyed of). Amy Tan in this book had the tendency to bore [her:] readers. bore them w/ too much details. some of these details (i can really say this) were immaterial to what she's really getting at.

Thi...more

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Dec 14, 2009 Kathryn rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. On the whole, I really enjoyed this book. As a third-generation ABC (American-born Chinese), I love reading Amy Tan's books because I always discover in reading them that something my family has always done or ways we've always thought is Chinese in nature, not universal. This book focused less on a mother-daughter theme (despite the framework of a mother telling her daughter her life story) and puts more of its efforts into painting a picture of Chinese life, thinking, and experiences during WW...more

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Oct 14, 2009 Ririenz rated it 3 of 5 stars

THE KITCHEN GOD’S WIFE
Pengarang : Amy Tan
Penerjemah : Joyce K. Isa
Penerbit : Gramedia Pustaka Utama
Cetakan : Cetakan II, Desember 1994
Halaman : 752 Halaman

Cerita singkat tentang legenda Isteri Dewa Dapur.

Pada zaman dahulu kala, di China ada seorang petani kaya bernama Zhang. Hidup Zhang sangat sejahtera dan damai karena diberkati oleh para Dewa. Zhang mempunyai seorang istri bernama Gao dan ia seorang istri yang baik karena mampu mengurus suami dan mengelola sumber daya keluarganya dengan sangat...more

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Jun 02, 2012 Erin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

I enjoy reading mother/daughter stories -- heart warmers, heartbreakers, or otherwise -- and The Kitchen God’s Wife is just that. It’s the story of a mother and daughter whose secrets keep them at arms reach, never quite comfortable with each other, until they are forced to sit down and reveal all.

Winnie, the mother, has led an interesting but sad life, and has spent the majority of her days suffering and trying to forget how much she’s been through. By not sharing her past with her daughter, Pe...more

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Dec 11, 2011 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone

Recommended to Lisa (Harmonybites) by: The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Ultimate Reading List

Shelves: contemporary, fiction, historical-fiction, literary-fiction, novels, popular-fiction, ultimate-reading-list, chick-lit

This is a story that spans decades. Begun in the present day by the first person narrative of Pearl, the bulk of the story is told by her seventy-four-year-old mother Winnie (Weili) as she relates to her daughter the tale of her first marriage, telling of what it was like in China during and after World War II and how she came to America. The Kitchen God of the title allots luck according to just desserts. He's deified, even though his wife who had suffered because of him and had lived a life of...more

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Mar 16, 2011 Annelien rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, awesome-females, history

The story of how a Chinese woman tries to live her life druing World War 2. It's a novel about friendship, hardship, love for family and tradition and how all those infuence our choices in life. Even though the themes are heavy, the novel has a humorous tone and is written so beautifully, you just cannot put it down until you know how Winnie's story will end.

I adored reading this book. It was one of those books you kept in the back of your mind while you weren't reading it and it was constantly...more

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Dec 05, 2007 Jennifer Cole rated it 5 of 5 stars

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."

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Aug 20, 2011 Meri rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: general-fiction

This is my second Amy Tan, and I have to say that I don't understand how she earned a place among America's greatest authors. I have not read The Joy Luck Club, so maybe that's the problem.

I did enjoy this one very much. Amy Tan has a way with characters. The story starts out from the perspective of the daughter, who has a fraught relationship with her overbearing mother. When the perspective switched over to the mother, I was unhappy with the change. I didn't like the mother! My opinion changed...more

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About Amy Tan

Amy Tan (Chinese: 譚恩美; pinyin: Tán Ēnměi; born February 19, 1952) is an American writer whose works explore mother-daughter relationships and what it means to grow up as a first generation Asian American. In 1993, Tan's adaptation of her most popular fiction work, The Joy Luck Club, became a commercially successful film.

She has written several other books, including The Kitchen God's Wife, The Hun...more

More about Amy Tan...

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The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life

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Quotes from The Kitchen God's Wife

“Chance is the first step you take, luck is what comes afterward.” — 182 people liked it

“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.” — 90 people liked it

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12557.The_Kitchen_God_s_Wife?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309200764l/12557.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12557.The_Kitchen_God_s_Wife?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan[/url]

The Kitchen God's Wife

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