In Amy Tan’s The Kitchen God’s Wife, the story begins by introducing a conflict between the character Pearl Louie and her mother Winnie. Winnie has very strict Chinese values that oppose with the “typical” American lifestyle Pearl is living. Winnie doesn’t know that Pearl has been striving for normality in her life because she is living with multiple sclerosis. Pearl’s Auntie Helen and cousin Mary have been informed of Pearl’s condition, but she has yet to tell her mother. I believe that if Helen tells Winnie, their dispute will erupt into a sea of problems due to their history of contrasting values and ideals. Although the initial conflict is focused from the daughters point of view, I have an inkling that the book will be structured around Winnie and her conflicts.

One thing I truly enjoy thus far about this book is that it’s written in the first-person, but not the quintessential first-person. Tan develops the storyline by writing each chapter from a different character’s point of view. This allows for each and every character to come to life. The Joy Luck Club by her, as well, possesses this style of writing. It appears to be a pattern for Tan. In both books there is a Chinese daughter named Pearl. This leads me to wonder if this name has any special meaning to Tan. I look forward to more reading In which I can discover more parallels between the two and more conflicts pertaining to Winnie.