This is my third time reading this, having first read it 30 years ago and again about 15 years ago. It’s one book that has stuck with me through the years and that I felt the need to read again.
The Joy Luck Club is comprised of 4 immigrant couples who meet to play Mah-Jongg, invest in the stock market, and eat. The women talk about their children, especially their daughters, and that is the heart of this book.
The mothers Suyuan, Lindo, An-Mei, and Ying-Ying and their daughters Jing-Mei, Waverly, Rose, and Lena have different views on life since each of the mothers immigrated to America after a trying past in China and each of the daughters have been raised as American. The mothers desperately try to instill Chinese values in their daughters, but the daughters want nothing to do with it.
The writing is so beautiful, with each chapter being told from a different character. The chapters alternate and through different narrators and times we are given a clear look at how each woman grew from child to adult, and how each experience changed them in the process.
I especially love how brilliantly Ms. Tan captures the annoyance daughters have for their mothers when their mothers are just passing on advice. That’s definitely something every mother daughter duo can relate to!
I love how even reading it for the third time it still sucked me in and made me a part of these wonderful women. I know this isn’t the last time I’ll read this, and I think I can safely say it’s the only book I’ll gladly reread.