The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

The Joy Luck Club is a story about four mothers: Suyuan Woo, An-mei Hsu, Lindo Yong and Ying-ying St.Clair all born in China and immigrants to the United States. Their daughters Jing-mei ''June'' Woo, Rose Hsu Jordan, Waverly Jong and Lena St.Clair where all born in the US, and the story takes place in San Francisco. The story starts at the moment that Jing-mei Woo tells that she  is asked by her father to fill her mother's place at the fourth corner of the Mah-Jong table, now she has passed away. From then the story switches in chapter from mother to mother, and from daughter to daugher. All telling about their past in China, and telling about their mother's lives and their daughter's lives in the United States. And they tell what it means to be Chinese-American. This book reveals the hidden lives of Chinese immigrants and it tells us how China has developed from the period when the mothers lived, up to the period when their daughters lived.

As I am a huge fan of Chinese-American fiction, it was weird that I haven't had read the most famous and well known book in this topic: The Joy Luck Club. After reading A Hundred Secret Senses I was just hooked on Amy Tan's books as they so vividly portray the life of Chinese immigrants in America.
This book is just the best you can find on this topic. It was ofcourse, very cultural and I loved Amy Tan's writing, as always. The stories of the mothers and daughters where sometimes happy but also sometimes very sad, the mothers had to suffer some harsh times in China, while some of their daughters where facing even more difficult things while living in the USA. Just a book you must have read once in your life!