Four Chinese women, four America daughters.

In 1949 a group of Chinese women, recent immigrants to San Francisco, meet weekly to play mahjong and tell stories of what they left behind in China. United in loss and new hope for their daughters’ futures, they call themselves the Joy Luck Club. Their daughters, who have never heard these stories, think their mothers’ advice is irrelevant to their modern American lives – until their own inner crises reveal how much they’ve inherited of their mothers’ pasts.

'Pure enchantment' Mail on Sunday

‘Honest, moving and beautifully courageous’ Alice Walker

'An ambitious saga that's impossible to read without wanting to call your Mum' Stylist

"A brilliant first novel... Tan writes from the heart, cutting sharp edges with wit, wisdom and a gentle and delicate precision... The novel covers a remarkable spectrum and reveals the private secrets and ghosts that haunt, torment - and comfort. Completely compelling" - Time Out

"That rare, mesmerizing novel that one always seeks but seldom finds...a pure joy to read" - Chicago Tribune

"In this deft and original debut, Amy Tan shows that she is both a consummate storyteller and writer whose prose manages to be emotionally charged without a trace of sentimentality" - Sunday Times