Amy Tan - The Kitchen God's Wife

Pros: A story that runs the gamut of emotions.
Cons: Some view Tan's work as sentimental and manipulative.

Amy Tan has carved out a place for herself in the literature market. Her books are soulful, and speciallize in that area of the brain that needs comforting and feeling good. Working with her Chinese heritage, she tells stories about modern women in a ...

Pros: Amy Tan's writing is well constructed and lucid.
Cons: This book has the same plot and issues as her earlier novels.

This is an updated review. I admit to picking up The Kitchen God's Wife with a bit of skepticism and trepidation. You see, I voraciously devoured The Joy Luck Club several years ago and ...

Pros: Beautifully written, vivid descriptions, characters, and settings.
Cons: None for me, I loved it thoroughly.

The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan is my first experience with her work. She achieved quite a bit of fame for her better known The Joy Luck Club. I saw neither the movie, nor read the book, however I may soon have to rectify that...

Pros: Some yummy descriptions of Chinese food.
Cons: thinly drawn characters, abrupt changes in era

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 ...

Pros: Well-told story about family secrets
Cons: Very similar to earlier book

When I read Amy Tan's first novel, "The Joy Luck Club," I was mesmerized. That book told such a rich tale that I had high hopes for "The Kitchen God's Wife."

While "Kitchen God" has many of the same elements --...

Pros: An emotional and historical saga! Beautiful well written story!
Cons: There may be a few segments that went unnecessarily long.

Amy Tan has written a remarkable best seller filled with an astounding series of complex and compounding secrets that two women have shared for 50 years. Winnie and Helen have shared secrets about each that were too unbearable or complex to reveal...

Pros: A terrific story and a great read. One of Tan's best efforts.
Cons: Tan never strays from the theme of Chinese history in her novels

In my book, Amy Tan is quite possibly one of the greatest writers of our time. She brings to life images from a past and distant world in way that isn’t daunting to the reader. In The Kitchen God’s wife she again tells a beautiful story of reconciling ...

Pros: Very easy to read, engrossing.
Cons: The same conflict between mother and daughter.

If it is you first book of Amy Tan you will find it very interesting. It completely engrossed your from the very beginning. There is enough mystery and suspense too keep you hooked. The excursus in Chinese history is fascinating.
This is a story...

Pros: Intriguing story, beautifully written
Cons: None

The Kitchen God's Wife is the first book of Amy Tan that I have read. And I have got a really good first impression. This novel is about a Chinese-American mother and daughter-Pearl and Winnie. The style of writing is really good and the author portrays...

Pros: A page turner.
Cons: Slow to start.

This gives the reader unfamiliar with Chinese culture a real insight to how & why the people of China do things that we may not understand. It brings the reader back to the days before WW II. I have found new respect for the people who had to endure the hardships that they did so many years ago in worn torn China.