The Kitchen God’s Wife

By: Amy Tan / Narrated By: Gwendoline Yeo

Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins

What on God’s green earth IS the Publisher’s Summary going on about? I mean, huh?!?

Bear with me here because, once again, like an idiot, I TOTALLY got all involved in what the Publisher’s Summary says a book is gonna be about. And here, a story about different generations, different cultures, revealing secrets, The Kitchen God’s Wife is supposed to have “a series of comic misunderstandings and heartbreaking realizations about luck, loss, and trust.”

Wait! Wha?!?

Actually, ya wanna know what the book is about, what it’s trying to do?

It’s the mother’s (Winnie’s) story of the engagement of the Chinese with the Japanese leading up to and including WWII. It’s the way Amy Tan chose to put faces to THAT Hell on Earth. And it works really well. I enjoyed the richness of the prose paired with the richness of history. The Flying Tigers are mentioned! And Winnie’s first husband is originally a pilot in the book, tho’ he never shows much talent or bravery.

As a matter of fact, the whole book is more an account of horrific abuse Winnie suffers at the hands of said first husband. Tan can really write emotionally evocative books, and this one is no exception as we follow Winnie’s life as a young woman to the twitchily eccentric-ish older woman that daughter Pearl knows her as. And while Pearl’s story is glanced over (she’s been diagnosed with MS), mostly this is WWII China and a bit of post-WWII Love Story.

But I think what I like best about Tan’s writing is the way she weaves in Chinese myths, legends, stories, history in with heartfelt character-driven novels. And I really, really, REALLY loved the concept that came to be fleshed out: That of the Kitchen God’s Wife getting some respect and devotion.

So don’t get me wrong. I really liked the book, especially as it SMACKED of (military) history! And Gwendoline Yeo’s narration is spot on when she’s not doing treMENDously ODD voices for the characters. I hate referring to other’s reviews cuz I’d like to be able to offer you something original, but I’ve gotta say it: Other reviewers had her pegged when they pointed out Chinese characters talking like Valley Girls, and another character speaking in the tones of a priest chanting up prayers to the heavens. TreMENDously ODD, like, seriously. But Yeo offers so much more in her depiction of Winnie and her life.

Great story told with great writing paired with… for-the-most-part… great narration.

Just, for the love of GOD! Do NOT take the Publisher’s Summary to heart!