Major Works of Amy Tan

The Joy Luck Club – (1989) The popular and critical success of this novel about the generational conflict between the protagonist, June, and three older Chinese women, members of a social club, establishes Tan's preeminence as the novelist of Chinese American women--immigrant mothers and their offspring--who see each other in terms of their struggles to achieve an identity in China and in America.
The Joy Luck Club comprises sixteen stories told by four Chinese immigrant women and their four American-born daughters, linked together by the narrative of Jing-mei Woo, whose mother had founded a women's social club in China to sustain its members' spirits during the communist revolution. In the novel, the club becomes a metaphor for the reconciliation of the conflict between maternal expectation and tradition, and filial individuality and cultural independence.

The Bonesetter's Daughter- (2001) Amy Tan's fourth novel. Like much of her work, this novel deals with the relationship between an American-born Chinese woman and her immigrant mother. The Bonesetter's Daughter is divided into two major stories. The first is about Ruth, a Chinese-American woman living in San Francisco. She worries that her elderly mother, LuLing, is gradually becoming more and more demented. LuLing seems increasingly forgetful, and makes bizarre comments about her family and her own past. The second major story is that of LuLing herself, as written for Ruth. Several years earlier, LuLing had written out her life story in Chinese. Ruth arranges to have the document translated, and learns the truth about her mother's life in China.

Saving Fish from Drowning – (2005) The book opens with an article from the San Francisco Chronicle, stating that eleven tourists, including four men, five women, and two children have mysteriously vanished in Burma, after sailing away on a cruise on Christmas morning. From then on, the story is told through the omniscient first person narrative of Bibi Chen, the tour leader who unexpectedly dies before the trip takes place and who continues to watch over her friends as they journey towards their fate. The novel explores the relationships, insecurities and hidden strengths of the tourists, set against the uneasy political situation in Burma.

The Kitchen God's Wife - (1991) Written by Amy Tan, opens with the narrative voice of Pearl Louie Brandt, the American-born daughter of a Chinese mother and a Chinese-American father, who is a speech therapist living in San Jose. Pearl's mother, Winnie Louie, has called Pearl up to request that Pearl ask her daughters to attend the engagement party of Pearl's cousin Bao-Bao in San Francisco. Right away, Pearl feels a reluctance to oblige her mother, since she is more involved in her American identity—perhaps a result of her marriage to Phil, an American—than her Chinese background. Nevertheless, she feels an obligation to attend her families' festivity and knows she would feel guilty otherwise. Then, two days before the engagement party, Pearl receives another call from her mother telling her that Auntie Du has died and that the funeral will be arranged for the day after the engagement party. So, with all of this on her shoulders, Pearl sets out toward San Francisco with her young daughters, Tessa and Cleo, and her husband.
Amy Tan wrote The Kitchen God’s Wife about her mother, Daisy. Most of Winnie’s story in the novel is drawn from Daisy’s life, including the difficult life and marriage she left behind in pre-communist China. The presentation of Winnie’s story, as she tells her story to Pearl, is reminiscent of the oral tradition. Tan, like Pearl, had never given much thought to her mother’s life in China, and she was amazed at what she learned.