Deceptively simple, yet inherently dramatic, each chapter can stand alone yet personalities unfold and details build to deepen the impact and meaning of the whole. A crippling generation gap is the result: the mothers, superstitious, full of dread, always fearing bad luck, raise their daughters with hope that their lives will be better, but they also mourn the loss of a heritage their daughters cannot comprehend. I talked to her in English, she answered back in Chinese,'' says one character. ``My mother and I never understood each other we translated each other's meanings. The daughters try to reconcile their personalities, shaped by American standards, with seemingly irrational maternal expectations. The mothers, all born in China, tell about grueling hardship and misery, the tyranny of family pride and the fear of losing face. The three remaining club members and their daughters alternate with stories of their lives, tales that are stunning, funny and heartbreaking. Jing-mei ``June'' Woo recounts her first session in a San Francisco mah-jong club founded by her recently dead, spiritually vital, mother. The narrative voice moves among seven characters. Intensely poetic, startlingly imaginative and moving, this remarkable book will speak to many women, mothers and grown daughters, about the persistent tensions and powerful bonds between generations and cultures.
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