The Joy Luck Club

Chinese culture and history come to life in this novel that weaves the stories of eight women. Four immigrant mothers recount stories from the lives they led in China, and their four Chinese-American daughters describe the experience of growing up straddling two very different cultures and dealing with their Old World mothers.

The four mothers are strong and self-sacrificing and devoted to their children as they withstand the struggles of immigration and transition to a new, foreign culture. The four Chinese-American daughters show growth as they learn to appreciate their mothers' hardships.

While there are no sexually explicit scenes, in one of the stories it is understood that a couple has sexual relations. The mother of one of the characters is a Fourth Wife and must be sexually available to her husband at his whim.