The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan

The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan took me by surprise.  We start by learning about Pearl, a woman who struggles to understand her Chinese-born mother's ways.  But most of the book centers around Winnie, Pearl's mother, who realizes that she has to tell Pearl all about her struggles in China and how she came to the United States. It's a story about a relationship between a mother and a daughter, but it's also a story about a woman surviving horrible abuse and hardship through friendship and found family.  I assumed this would bore me to tears, but I was riveted by each page.

It's mostly historical fiction, written from the perspective of a Chinese woman during World War II as the Japanese are their enemies and biggest threat. But the backdrop really is a backdrop for a book about relationships and how friendships and love grows in unexpected places and ways.  It was a pretty long book, just over 400 pages, but it was a fast read, especially once you got through Pearl's chapters and were reading from Winnie's perspective.

I wasn't excited to read this book, but it was exciting to read. Maybe I'll add more Amy Tan to my list of books to read soon.