On the publication of her first novel, The Joy Luck Club (1989), Amy Tan became an instant star in the publishing world; and her second novel, The Kitchen God's Wife (1991), was a triumph as well. Tan's skillful renditions of mother-daughter relationships reach the hearts of millions of readers. Moreover, her work--which comes more than a dozen years after Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior (1976)--has helped to create a renaissance of Chinese American writing. Tan's books also include two children's books and a third novel, The Hundred Secret Senses (1995).

Amy Tan's roots are in a sorrowful family history and painful personal traumas. Her father, John Tan, immigrated to the United States in 1947. He worked as an engineer and served as a Baptist minister. Amy's mother, Daisy, came to the United States in 1949, leaving behind three daughters from a previous marriage. When Amy was born in Oakland, California, her parents...