They want the girls to learn from their experiences and mistakes. She considers herself a ghost and expresses many paranoid concerns to her daughter.Įach mother desperately wants her daughter to respect and hear her.
Ying-ying lived with a cheating spouse in China before entering a loveless marriage in America. As a child, An-mei dealt with her mother’s abandonment and suicide before learning to stand up for herself. Lindo survived a miserable arranged marriage in China before slyly escaping her commitment and forging her own path to America. For many years, she and Lindo were subtly but fiercely competitive where their American-born daughters were concerned. She came to America and started a new family. Readers learn that after losing her babies, Suyuan emerged stronger. June wonders how well she really knew Suyuan.Įach of the eight women spends several chapters telling her personal story. The aunties insist she tell the girls all about their mother. The women have saved enough money to send June to China to meet the twins in her mother’s stead. The aunties tell June the twins have been located, but just after Suyuan’s death. Ultimately, she had to leave China without them. She unexpectedly recovered and searched for them for years. She left her babies by the roadside with all of her valuables, hoping someone would save them. As a young mother in China during wartime, Suyuan was forced to flee her city. They also reveal Suyuan’s secret wish of reuniting with her twin daughters. Several months after she passes, the “aunties” invite June to take her place at the mahjong table.
The over-arching story begins with Suyuan’s death. Lena, Ying-ying’s daughter, finds herself in a frustrating marriage where her high-earning husband insists they split all expenses 50/50. Lindo’s daughter, Waverly, is a former chess champ who fears her mother will reject her husband-to-be. Rose, An-mei’s daughter, is going through a divorce. In the 1980s, Suyuan’s daughter Jing-mei (June) is a struggling publicity writer. Four of these are daughters who are close in age and grow up together. The club continues to meet for decades.Įach woman has children. The women gather each week to eat, play mahjong and share stories. She recognizes they are suffering as she is, so she starts the Joy Luck Club. Suyuan meets these three other immigrants through the First Chinese Baptist Church in 1949. Clair, her days are filled with painful memories of life in China. Like An-mei Hsu, Lindo Jong and Ying-ying St.
Suyuan Woo comes to America without her twin daughters.
0 kommentar(er)
