Summary of the Story: The novel delves into the complicated relationship between 4 Chinese immigrant mothers and their first generation American born daughters. The novel alternates from the shocking lives of the mothers in pre-Revolutionary China to the complex and chaotic life of the daughters in twentieth century San Francisco.

Context: The Joy Luck Club was written in 1989, a time of great change in the world. It was during this time that the once powerful ideals of communism had begun to collapse with the fall of the Berlin Wall. The capitalist western society had been at its peak with great power and influence in the world. Though the Berlin Wall had fallen, another barrier was raised in the form of the `bamboo curtain' which had hid China and much of the eastern world behind it in a shroud of mystery. As a result, very little...