However the book is about four Chinese mothers, born in the first decades of the 20th century, and their four daughters who were born in America shortly after World War II.
The book opens with Jing-Mei Woo - who is now in her thirties - being invited by her father to join the 'Joy Luck Club' shortly after the death of her mother. This is a group of eight Chinese people who meet to play mah-jong, to raise money, and to gossip. Jing-Mei doesn't really want to join with these older people - her father, and three sets of honourary aunts and uncles, but does so for the sake of her mother's memory. After eating a meal, playing a game, and remembering some incidents in her past, she's given a surprise gift.
This was a promising start to the book, and I was eager to know what Jing-Mei would do after receiving this gift. However the next chapter is written from the perspective of one of the other women in the Joy Luck Club, An-Mei Hsu, flashing back to her childhood. Again it's interesting, but I found myself feeling slightly bewildered by the contrast. Here we learn about An-Mei's unhappy past; she was abandoned by her mother, and brought up by her strict grandmother and other relatives. It's a short chapter, and recounts a painful incident.
This change of perspective continues throughout. The book has four distinct sections, each of which has four chapters. The first and last sections are devoted to the mothers, the middle two sections to the daughters. The exception is Jing-Mei who has a chapter in each section. It's not until the final chapter of the book that time moves forward again, and we learn what she does with her gift.
There isn't a great deal of plot. Instead we see, through flashbacks alternating with the present, incidents from the childhoods of each of the seven women concerned. The four mothers had very different backgrounds: one was from an extremely wealthy Chinese family, but she took her riches for granted. Another grew up rather devious and manipulative. An-Mei grew up indecisive, always wanting other people to make decisions for her. Jing-Mei's mother had to escape the invading Japanese, and lost everything as a result.
Each of the mothers ends up in America in early adulthood, so their daughters are raised as Chinese-Americans. Inevitably there are cultural clashes, and the daughters struggle to come to terms with their identities, clashing at times with what they perceive as the old-fashioned natures of their parents, and the demands of Chinese culture.
Part Two of the book shows incidents from the childhood of each of the four daughters, and part Three shows them as young adults, struggling with their relationships to non-Chinese Americans, making mistakes which their mothers watch with pain and inevitable misunderstandings. Ironically, despite being brought up quite differently from the way their mothers were brought up, each of the daughters shows remarkably similarities of character to her mother.
Part Four returns to the three mothers for their perspectives on their adult children's lives and loves. They see themselves reflected in their daughters, and their daughters begin to understand them better. Then the final chapter is Jing-Mei's again, moving forward at last.
Every time I started a new chapter, I had to look at the contents list, to remind myself whose mother (or daughter) this character was. By the time I was half-way through, I started thinking of it as a book of short stories, and that helped. Each chapter was almost complete in itself, and could be read that way, so once I had stopped looking for connections, it made more sense. I saw the connections as I got to the end, although I still did not remember which family was which without checking.
The front cover said that the book was 'hilarious' and 'moving'. There were certainly a few places that made me smile in mild amusement. Mostly they were to do with cultural misunderstandings. But I felt the humour was bittersweet; it's all too easy to make mistakes living out of one's own culture. When the daughters were ridiculing their mother's traditions and customs, I didn't find it funny at all, but sad, from the perspectives of both.
As for 'moving': well, once I had grasped the overall concept of the book - the division and reconciliation of mothers and daughters, the gradual merging of the cultures - I suppose it could be described that way. Certain incidents within the book were somewhat emotional, although none of them moved me to tears. I think the reason for this is that it was so confusing to read, even though after finishing it I can better see the big picture.
'The Joy Luck Club' is an international bestseller, so it would seem that I'm missing something that other people enjoy. Still, there was nothing I specially disliked about the book. I won't be returning it to the next jumble sale; I expect my younger son will read it some time since he's an avid reader of almost anything, and I might even dip into it again myself one day. If I do, though, I shall probably read it in a different order from the way it's written. I'll take one family at a time and read through all their chapters.
On the positive side, it was well-written, and I expect it gives some useful cultural background for people who have never lived outside their community. Perhaps when it was written (1989 in America) there was even more insularity in the USA than there is now, and this book could have helped bridge some gaps, helping ordinary white Americans to understand better those of Chinese and other descent. For me, growing up in multi-cultural Birmingham, and now living in Cyprus, it seemed rather ordinary.
For anyone interested in Chinese Americans, or indeed any cross-cultural issues, I'd recommend it in a low-key way. I understand a film was made of this book; perhaps it's one of the few books that would be better in movie form, since it would give a clear pictorial image of what the author - herself a Chinese American - wanted to convey.
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