Amy Tan, The Kitchen God's Wife

Bella Adams (University of Sunderland)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Delphine Munos (Université de Liège)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1991

Places

United States, California (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

Still in the tradition of matrilineal literature, Amy Tan's second novel, The Kitchen God's Wife (1991), relinquishes the multiple micronarrative approach that helped make The Joy Luck Club into such a success. Not quite a blockbuster, but definitely a best seller, The Kitchen God's Wife represents just one mother-daughter relationship between Winnie Louie and Pearl Louie Brandt. Narrowing the focus even more (at Daisy Tan's request), the Chinese mother dominates the novel with a lengthy monologue about her Chinese past. The remaining chapters, of which there are only three, are left to the American-born daughter, who is preoccupied with the present and family events/duties. Pearl does not discuss her childhood in …

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3409 words

Citation: Adams, Bella. "The Kitchen God's Wife". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 November 2002 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=440, accessed 05 May 2024.]

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