Amy Tan Reflects on 30 Years Since The Joy Luck Club | Literary Hub

After all, these were quirky stories, written by an unknown Chinese American author. And in those days, books that were non-mainstream were termed "ethnic," enjoyed by special readers, largely those who were in ethnic studies programs. The characters are mothers who immigrated from China and their modern thirty-something American-born daughters. Their relationships are fraught with years of misunderstandings and accumulated pain. A mother's hopes and expectations become a daughter's sense of failure. A mother's advice is received by a daughter as rejection of who she really is. The mother, in return, feels her daughter knows nothing about her and has learned nothing from her mother, the one who loved her best.

Who would pay to read that? Over the last 30 years, I continue to be grateful and amazed by the answer: many.