The Joy Luck Club
Sweeping story of bicultural mother-daughter friction.
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this book.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club weaves the stories of four Chinese immigrant mothers and their four daughters into a richly satisfying novel. The mothers' experiences in China inform how they bring up their daughters in the United States, and the younger women must figure out how to navigate their own lives, drawing on what they've gleaned from their Old World mothers and their American childhoods. Mothers and daughters of all cultures will likely appreciate the miscommunication, heartache, and unconditional love that flow through the novel, along with the themes of compassion, empathy, and perseverance. Violence includes references to illness and death during the Chinese Civil War (1927–1949/50). In one chapter, the grandmother of one of the daughters cuts the flesh of her arm to make soup for her mother. There's infrequent swearing ("s--t," "goddamn," "damn") and opium use, and a character dies by suicide via opium overdose. The Joy Luck Club is a significant work of Asian American literature that has been translated into 35 languages. You may also want to check out the 1993 film version.
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What's the Story?
Four Chinese immigrant women form a mahjong club in the late 1940s in San Francisco, dubbing themselves THE JOY LUCK CLUB. Over the course of 40 years, their stories unfold as they raise their daughters in a country quite different from their own. Mothers and daughters learn to navigate relationships as they imperfectly translate one another and the opposing cultures. Seeking to find their identities as women, mothers, daughters, and wives, they find joy in the lives they create.
Is It Any Good?
Amy Tan's novel skillfully explores the often tense relationships between mothers and daughters. The Joy Luck Club doesn't perfectly solve all of the problems presented within its pages, but it brings hope to the characters as they work to resolve and learn from their relationships.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how Chinese history (circa 1920s to 1940s) affected the lives of the Chinese mothers and how they raised their American-born daughters as told in The Joy Luck Club. How did your parents' experiences influence the way they raised you?
Reconciling two different cultures can be challenging for the children of immigrants. Do you have any personal experience with this issue? How might you find harmony between the culture of your family heritage and the culture of the place you're living in?
Mother-daughter relationships can be fraught with tension and strong bonds. Do any of the conflicts in the book sound familiar to you?
The Joy Luck Club is often required reading in high school. Why do you think it's a significant work of Asian American literature?
How do the characters demonstrate compassion, empathy, and perseverance? Why are these important character strengths?
Book Details
- Author: Amy Tan
- Genre: Contemporary Fiction
- Topics: History
- Character Strengths: Compassion, Empathy, Perseverance
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Putnam Adult
- Publication date: March 22, 1989
- Last updated: December 1, 2022
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For kids who love immigrant stories and books with Asian characters
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