"Remarkable...mesmerizing...compelling.... An entire world unfolds in Tolstoyan tide of event and detail....Give yourself over to the world Ms. Tan creates for you." -- The New York Times Book Review Winnie and Helen have kept each other's worst secrets for more than fifty years. Now, because she believes she is dying, Helen wants to expose everything. And Winnie angrily determines that she must be the one to tell her daughter, Pearl, about the past--including the terrible truth even Helen does not know. And so begins ...
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"Remarkable...mesmerizing...compelling.... An entire world unfolds in Tolstoyan tide of event and detail....Give yourself over to the world Ms. Tan creates for you." -- The New York Times Book Review Winnie and Helen have kept each other's worst secrets for more than fifty years. Now, because she believes she is dying, Helen wants to expose everything. And Winnie angrily determines that she must be the one to tell her daughter, Pearl, about the past--including the terrible truth even Helen does not know. And so begins Winnie's story of her life on a small island outside Shanghai in the 1920s, and other places in China during World War II, and traces the happy and desperate events that led to Winnie's coming to America in 1949. The Kitchen God's Wife is "a beautiful book" ( Los Angeles Times ) from the bestselling author of novels like The Joy Luck Club and The Backyard Bird Chronicles , and the memoir, Where the Past Begins.
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Add this copy of The Kitchen God´S Wife: a Novel to cart. $22.91, new condition, Sold by Kennys.ie rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Galway, IRELAND, published 2006 by Penguin Books.
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Fair. Book is in acceptable condition. May have shelf wear edge wear and spine wear but a very readable copy. May not come with supplemental materials if applicable. Does not include original dustcover jacket. Possibly Ex Library Copy.
Add this copy of The Kitchen God's Wife to cart. $9.28, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Penguin Books.
Add this copy of The Kitchen God's Wife to cart. $9.28, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Penguin Books.
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Add this copy of The Kitchen God's Wife to cart. $9.29, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Penguin Books.
Add this copy of The Kitchen God's Wife to cart. $9.29, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Penguin Books.
Add this copy of The Kitchen God's Wife to cart. $9.29, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Penguin Books.
Add this copy of The Kitchen God's Wife to cart. $9.29, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Penguin Books.
Amy Tan is at the height of her literary powers here, in this wonderful book about secrets, mothers, and daughters. Tan may never exhaust the things she has to say about mother-daughter relationships, and I can't say that's a bad thing, because her stories always ring true. "The Kitchen God's Wife" is no exception. Revolving around the secrets kept by a mother and daughter, it examines the way secrets (specifically, painful secrets) can drive a wedge of opacity between people, even if the secret is meant to protect a loved one. Pearl and her mother Winnie find each other harder and harder to understand, each trying to protect the other from the painful truths they are carrying. Finally, Winnie's hand is forced by her old friend and secret-keeper, who declares she will tell all if Winnie does not. Thus begins the major section of the book, in which Winnie narrates to her daughter the truth about her life in China prior to her flight to America. The experiences that Winnie lived through are horrific and yet believable. I never felt that Tan was merely trying to pull emotional strings or manipulate the reader in any way. Considering the pain held in these pages, this is quite impressive. It is not an easy thing to do without becoming heavy-handed. I loved this book. It was vivid, full of joy, and ultimately satisfying.
Selina
Oct 10, 2007
A must read
This is a powerful book dealing with the relationship between mother ond daughter. Winnie and Pearl are very likeable characters. Amy Tan has a beautiful way of writing. It is a great joy to be reading her words. Sometimes the narrative almost soulds like poetry.
This is an entertaining book, full of great characters. This is one of Tan's best work.
