What is the author's style in The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan?

The Kitchen God's Wife is an interesting example of a first-person narrative because of its complexity. The story is told from both Pearl's and Winnie's points of view, and Winnie talks about both the past and the present. The structure of the novel, with the mother and daughter as the speakers, suggests indirect communication between the two of them through the reader. Of course, by the end of the novel, this has become direct communication as the two women share the secrets they have hidden from each other.

Because Winnie's story is drawn heavily from Tan's mother's life, the inclusion of actual historical events and figures is not surprising. In fact, the historical context is so striking and real, the novel can be considered a roman à clef, which is a novel in which real people and events are presented in a fictional context.

There are many real events and people in the novel. Winnie, of course, is based on Daisy Tan, the author's mother. Wen Fu is based on Daisy's first husband. The social context of the novel, with its patriarchy and arranged marriages, is an accurate depiction of what life was like in China at that time. The details of the war, from the stories of cities bombed by the Japanese to the character of Claire Chennault, are drawn directly from history.