Book Review: The Joy Luck Club

I know next to nothing about Chinese history, and was excited to read this book. The Joy Luck Club was founded in San Fransisco in 1949 by four Chinese women, who would gather to eat dim sum, play mahjong, and talk. The book takes you into the thoughts of these women as they tell stories of their lives in China, as well as the lives of their American born daughters.China was not kind to these women; one woman, in order to escape the conquering Japanese, carried her twin daughters until she was dizzy with dysentery and could not take care of them anymore. She moved to American with no idea what happened to them. One girl's mother was pushed into prostitution, and became the third concubine and forth wife to a wealthy man and shunned by her family. Many of these women wore hard shells on the outside, and suffered on the inside. They expected great things of their daughters, who were born with everything they could ask for.The daughters fascinate me - most of them become opposit
e of what their mother's wanted, and pushed their mother's away. The mother's wanted their children to have Chinese values, to use their freedom to become something, to stop complaining and make something of themselves; I found their daughters to be stubborn, and somewhat self-centered. It was also hard to have a relationship with their mothers, when their mothers did not understand American ways.The Joy Luck Club was an intriguing read, although it lacked depth. Stories were told by four mothers and four daughters that, while intriguing, I found to be a little disconnected. I don't know if that's the right word, but I didn't find myself feeling great emotion, like I did while reading Sarah's Key, and The Help. This may be due to the fact that I don't feel a great connection to Chinese history. I would still recommend this book to anyone with an interest in history.

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