by Amy Tan
First published 2001
When elderly LuLing begins to lose her grip on the present, she turns to writing down her tumultuous upbringing in China. As her daughter Ruth cares for her ailing mother, she discovers a hidden manuscript that unlocks a family mystery stretching back generations. Unearthing her mother's buried secrets, Ruth must confront the complex bond between them and find the courage to forge her own path. Weaving past and present, this richly textured tale explores how the ghosts of history haunt the lives we build.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: California, China, San Francisco, United States
Period: Contemporary San Francisco, Pre-war China
352 pages · Paperback · Harper Perennial