The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan (Amy Tan reads her Novel The Kitchen God's Wife)

by Amy Tan

The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan (Amy Tan reads her Novel The Kitchen God's Wife)

book data

7019 ratings, 3.85 average rating, 393 reviews (more data...)

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published

1991 by Dove Audio

binding

Audio Cassette

characters

Winnie, Auntie Helen, Pearl, Uncle Henry, Mary, Frank, Roger "Bao Bao", Doug Cheu, Phil Brandt, Tessa, Cleo, Mimi Wong, Loy Fong, Edna Fong, New Aunt, Old Aunt, Wen Fu, Huazheng "Peanut"

setting

The United States

isbn

0769404340 (isbn13: 9781558002661)

description

"Tan is one of the prime storytellers writing fiction today."
NEWSWEEK
Winnie and Helen have kept each other's worst secrets for mor...more

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All ratings | 5 stars (1569) | 4 stars (3059) | 3 stars (2087) | 2 stars (298) | 1 star (58) | avg 3.85

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Julie

Julie rated it:

(review of isbn 0143038109)

06/04/08

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

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3 comments

Joyce

Joyce rated it:

(review of isbn 0143038109)

07/18/08

Read in July, 2008

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...more

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Hyun Jung

Hyun Jung rated it:

(review of isbn 0143038109)

09/22/07

bookshelves: advisory07-08

recommends it for: everyone

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

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Julia

Julia rated it:

(review of isbn 0143038109)

08/14/07

bookshelves: readitandlovedit

recommends it for: mothers and daughters

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...more

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1 comment

Karschtl

Karschtl rated it:

(review of isbn 080410753X)

10/23/07

bookshelves: bc, drama

Read in November, 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 ha...more

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Brandon

Brandon rated it:

08/23/07

Read in August, 2007

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...more

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2 comments

Heather

Heather rated it:

(review of isbn 080410753X)

08/02/07

Read in July, 2007

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 annoy...more

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Jennifer

Jennifer rated it:

(review of isbn 0143038109)

12/05/07

Read in December, 2007

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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Becky

Becky rated it:

(review of isbn 0143038109)

07/09/08

Read in July, 2008

My second Amy Tan book - it was a lot like the other one (The Bonesetter's Daughter) in the theme of the mother-daughter relationship and the flashbacks to the mother's life in China. I enjoyed the insights into the mother's life and the secrets she had kept from her daughter about an abusive previous marriage - I kept wondering how she remembered it all in such detail. I really enjoyed this book and found it hard to put down.

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W. rated it:

(review of isbn 0143038109)

06/10/08

Read in May, 2008

Kinda on par with the other reviewers...I liked reading about Winnie's story of her past in China and not so much the story in the present. If you read Joy Luck Club or some of Amy Tan's other novels, the tone and content is similar. I prefer a couple of her other books to this one, but it was a "goodread" for the plane ride on my way to China.

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Am rated it:

(review of isbn 0143038109)

08/29/08

Possibly the greatest opening sentence ever written!

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Kerry

Kerry rated it:

(review of isbn 0143038109)

11/09/08

bookshelves: -08--09, kerry-s-books

Read in September, 2008

recommends it for: anyone who enjoys narratives of Chinese-American culture.

The Kitchen God's Wife, a novel by Amy Tan, details the lives of Chinese-American women, and their search for identity. The story opens with the voice of Pearl Louie Brandt, the daughter of Winnie and Jimmie Louie. Jimmie, a minister in the Chinese Baptist Church, passed away when Pearl was only a teenager. She is a speech therapist, who is currently living in San Jose with her American husband Phil, and their two daughters, Tessa and Cleo. We later learn that Pearl is suffering from multipl...more The Kitchen God's Wife, a novel by Amy Tan, details the lives of Chinese-American women, and their search for identity. The story opens with the voice of Pearl Louie Brandt, the daughter of Winnie and Jimmie Louie. Jimmie, a minister in the Chinese Baptist Church, passed away when Pearl was only a teenager. She is a speech therapist, who is currently living in San Jose with her American husband Phil, and their two daughters, Tessa and Cleo. We later learn that Pearl is suffering from multiple sclerosis, and has kept this a secret from her mother for some time.
Winnie has requested that Pearl and her family attend the engagement party of her cousin Bao-Bao in San Francisco. Pearl, at first, is reluctant to go, as she has trouble embracing her Chinese family. Two days before the engagement party, Pearl receives word that her Grand Auntie Du has died, and the funeral service will be held the day after.
It is during her return home, that her Auntie Helen, Bao-Bao's mother, who co-owns a florist shop with Winnie, insists that Pearl must share her secret with her mother, or else she will do so herself. Auntie Helen claims that she has a malignant brain tumor, and does not want to die knowing that her sister-in-law and dear friend is unaware of her own daughter's illness.
At this point in the novel, we transition to the voice of Winnie, as she tells of her past in China. She was abandoned by her mother at a young age, and was forced to live with her aunts and uncle. Her aunts arranged a traditional marriage for her to a wealthy man named Wen Fu. Wen Fu was very abusive, and wore Winnie down with his ill treatment.
During the time of World War II, Winnie met Helen. In telling Pearl this, she also reveals that Helen is not an in-law, but had said this in order to sponsor Helen's immigration.
However, the biggest kept secret was that before Winnie met Jimmie Louie, and escaped with him to America, she was raped by Wen Fu, and believes that she became pregnant as a result of the rape.
After Winnie ends her story, Pearl reveals the secret of her disease. Through their shared tales of hardship, they become closer. Together, they attend the wedding of Bao-Bao, and plan a trip with Helen to China.
Last year, I read The Joy Luck Club, another novel by Amy Tan that explores Chinese-American female identity. I appreciate Tan's sophisticated style of writing, as she takes on the voice of a range of characters. The recurring themes found in her stories are the struggle, determination, and hope of a family.

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Kristan

Kristan rated it:

(review of isbn 0399135782)

11/08/08

Read in November, 2008

recommends it for: mothers, daughters, Asians, Amy Tan fans

This was not my favorite Amy Tan book, but I did love it. More than any other, this focused on the mother's story in China, and it was a wrenching one. (Usually there's a pretty good balance between the mother and daughter generations.) Because of what I read in The Opposite of Fate, Amy Tan's memoir of sorts, I found myself thinking of this as her own mother's true story, which may or may not be a fair assumption. And my heart broke for this woman and all that she endured, all her suffering, th...more

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Amanda

Amanda added it (review of isbn 0143038109)

09/01/08

recommends it for: anyone.

I didn't find out about this assignment till a week it was due but when i went to th book store and looked at this book and read the back i then fell in love with it. I love books that have a bunch of secrets in them and that's what the book was about.

These two old friends have known each other for more then fifty years and they've kept each others secrets for that long. One of them was named Helen but her Chinese name back then as Hulan, same thing just pernouned differently, and the other...more I didn't find out about this assignment till a week it was due but when i went to th book store and looked at this book and read the back i then fell in love with it. I love books that have a bunch of secrets in them and that's what the book was about.

These two old friends have known each other for more then fifty years and they've kept each others secrets for that long. One of them was named Helen but her Chinese name back then as Hulan, same thing just pernouned differently, and the other one was Winnie. Well they were around the age of 70 80 and Helen just found out she has a brain tumor. She wants to then tell her whole family and Winnies family all the secrets she has been hiding for this long. But then Helen tells Winnie this, she's scared that her daughter will think differently of her. Winnie gives in and then tells her daughter. I have never known anyone in my entire life that has been through so much. It was a very tough time back then, Winnie and Helen lived when the China and Japan war was going on. Winnie had to go through losing her mother because she ran away when Winnie was about 10 years old. She had to live with her fathers brother because her father thought that Winnie would make him think of her mother too much, even though he already had three other wives. Back then people got married very young, Winnie was married to man named Wen Fu at the age of 17. Their marriage was terrible, he would beat her, tell her what to do, rape her and kept on getting her pregnant. They lost three kids and some of them never even were born yet because they didn't have the stuff we have today to deliver a baby and to give to the mother before the baby is born. Winnie was treated very badly by her husband and she put up with it for about ten years. After the war ended Wen Fu and his family all moved into Winnies fathers house, they took over everything and her father was really sick. Winnie kept running away with her son to get away from Wen Fu but then he ended up finiding her always untill she ran away and he couldn't find her. But then Helen was forced to tell him where she was, Winnie was sent to jail. She then got out almost two years later and got revenge on Wen Fu and left for america to her new husband Jimmy.

This book was amazing and i recommend it to everything. I thought i wasn't going to like it at first because it's about Chinese people and back then but i absoultly loved it. There are way more secrets then what i have said already, so you'll have to read it to find out the other secrets. The theme probably that would best go with this book is to be not afraid and be brave. No matter what happend Winnie was brave and then finally had a happy life after everything she went through....less

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melydia

melydia rated it:

(review of isbn 0399135782)

11/14/08

Read in October, 2005

I almost put down this book after the first fifty pages or so, but I'm glad I stuck with it. I had two major concerns that turned out to be unfounded. This book was neither a recycled Joy Luck Club nor a tiresomely preachy precautionary tale about the dangers of keeping secrets from your loved ones until it's too late. Sure, it starts off with secrets being kept by a Chinese woman, Winnie, from her Chinese-American daughter (and vice versa) but the bulk of the book is Winnie telling her daughter...more

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Danielle

Danielle rated it:

(review of isbn 0143038109)

06/07/08

bookshelves: fiction

Read in June, 2008

So, I read the Joy Luck Club I'm pretty sure in elementary school. I obviously didn't appreciate it as much as I would currently, but from what I remember of it, this book had a very similar feel.
Pretty much I liked it as long as we were in China. The rest felt so stereotypical to me, which, I guess might be reality since one would assume Tan knows what she's writing about. But I couldn't get over this guilty feeling of allowing the Chinese-American characters to be categorized so...bluntly, ...more

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1 comment

Corinne

Corinne rated it:

(review of isbn 0143038109)

02/07/08

bookshelves: expanding-your-horizons-challenge

Read in January, 2008

I didn't NOT like this book. Well, actually, I didn't particularly like the first two chapters and I didn't really like the last two either - the dialogue in these chapters seemed so contrived to me. The interactions and dialogue seemed so stereotypical Chinese mother wtih her Chinese-American daughter - I just didn't believe they were real.

My feelings changed, however, for the entire middle of the book, when Winnie (the mother) is telling her story of growing up in China. THAT felt real to ...more

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2 comments

Linda

Linda rated it:

(review of isbn 080410753X)

11/05/07

bookshelves: fiction

Read in May, 2007

Amy Tan is best known for The Joy Luck Club. This is her second novel, I think and it's wonderful. There's something about her writing that hooks me by the time I'm done with the second sentence. Her characters feel so real that I can't help empathizing with them.

This book is about Pearl and Winnie. Winnie was born in China, near Shanghai in 1916. Pearl is her daughter who was born in America. The majority of the book is the story of Winnie's life and how both mother and daughter have kept s...more

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Siria

Siria rated it:

(review of isbn 0006545068)

06/05/07

bookshelves: 20th-century, american-fiction

Read in October, 2005

This was written later than The Joy Luck Club, and I think that definitely shows in the quality of the writing and the structure of the novel. The sometimes cloying sentimentality of that book is not as much in evidence here, and the way the storyline falls into place is much more easy to follow.

The pacing of the book is very, very slow, however. It's 400+ pages in a large format paperback, but feels much longer. In some respects, I liked this; it allowed us to see more of the world o...more

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Erin

Erin rated it:

(review of isbn 0143038109)

07/27/08

bookshelves: fiction

Read in July, 2008

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 ...more

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