Read this book if: You’re tired of writers equating “strong female lead” to “she’s mean to everyone she meets.”
Don’t quit reading until at least: The end of Chapter 3.
The Kitchen God’s Wife is a story told over two generations of women- a mother, Winnie, born in China, and her daughter, Pearl, born in America. Narration from Pearl bookends the novel but does not comprise much of the actual plot; we learn mostly from Winnie about her life before she came to America and the events leading up to Pearl’s birth. Winnie confesses her story candidly and informally, often referencing forward and backward in time and dropping hints at future storylines only to pick them up later. She narrates as though speaking directly to her daughter, a device Tan uses expertly to give the reader that claustrophobic feeling of family. The story is comprised of characters that Pearl knows only in their roles as mother, father, aunt, and uncle, who now take on full color as individuals. It is full of pointed warnings and lessons, with one or two “back-in-my-day” comparisons. Nonetheless, the reader is as captivated as Pearl would be, finally hearing all the before-censored chapters of her own origin story.
Winnie was first raised in Shanghai where she loses her mother early. Her father, distant and inaccessible to her, sends Winnie to live on Tsungming Island with her uncle and his wives. She describes the trauma of losing her mother with an ache that only sets the stage for later painful experiences. She is married young to Wen Fu, who – at first decidedly charming – proves to be an abusive narcissist and remains our villain throughout. While Wen Fu’s character is not overly complex, his abuses of Winnie are elaborate, often having subtle and twisted psychological effects. After the start of WWII Winnie is forced to follow him around China as he travels as a pilot. Throughout her telling, Winnie’s experiences of war, her inescapable marriage, and the ill-fated lives of her first two children take on an almost muffled quality. She becomes battle worn, and the concept of strength is explored in depth.
Winnie frequently cites luck and fate as cause for her stifling circumstances. The superstition in this novel gives it a spark of real magic – everyday magic that had the potential to free Winnie at any time, giving the reader a sense of hope that I really leaned into. She says, “I began to look at everything in my life two ways: the way it happened, and the way it didn’t,” and indeed, we are often treated with two versions of a given event separated only by a single lucky or unlucky decision. If she had accepted a marriage to the Lin boy instead, for example. Or if she had not dropped a pair of scissors at precisely the unluckiest time. Most often the magic is dark, creating pitfalls. Buying a car from someone who has died in the war could lead the buyer to also die. Using scrap metal from downed planes to build new things will only bring down more planes.
In the end it is the women, even the ones shunned by society, considered ‘unlucky,’ that pull and push each other to freedom. The heroes in this story are heroines. They are first introduced as cautionary tales – even some of their names, such as ‘Beautiful Betty,’ have a fable-like quality. They are women that did not follow the laws of superstition. But these characters help Winnie forward. Winnie fails to see herself as a heroine in this story, as her view is too marred by mistakes she believes she has made. It is up to the reader to recognize her as such.
If you’d like to read along: In May 2020, I will be reviewing The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith.
Late Fees 