"The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan

288 pages

In 1949, four women, recently immigrated from China to San Francisco, formed the Joy Luck Club to eat, play games, and keep their shared culture alive in their lives. Now, decades later, they still get together. Their grown daughters, who were all raised in the United States, struggle to reconcile their Chinese heritage and the culture they've grown up in.

I enjoyed this book, but I was a bit disappointed by it. I guess my expectations were really high because it's so well-known and hyped up. The characters are interesting, but I never felt like I really got to know or connected with any of them. Perhaps this has something to do with the private nature of Chinese culture, but I expected to at least get more from the daughters. I did enjoy learning about Chinese beliefs and values, as well as the complicated relationship between immigrants and their first-generation offspring. The story was definitely worth reading for me, but there just wasn't anything here that really wowed me.