The Kitchen God's WifeThe Kitchen God's Wife
Score Modern
What it's about
Winnie Louie and her old friend Helen have kept each other's secrets for fifty years. When Helen, believing she's dying, threatens to reveal them, Winnie decides to tell her daughter Pearl the truth herself: about her life in China before and during the Second World War, her marriage to a brutal man, and how she escaped to America. Pearl has a secret too.
Why it's worth reading
It spent weeks at #1 on the New York Times list. Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club, tells a gripping story of survival and of a mother and daughter learning to understand each other.
You'll love it if you liked
Memoirs of a Geisha
The Gift of Rain
The Great BelieversGood to know
Winnie's marriage involves sexual abuse and violence, and war scenes are graphic.
By the numbers
- Readers50 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics0 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Bestseller58 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #735 of the 1,573 modern books we rank
- #1376 of the 2,816 books we rank
Why it made the list
Reads as
Moving
More by Amy Tan
The Backyard Bird Chronicles
The Joy Luck Club
The Hundred Secret SensesIf you like this, read next
Americanah
The Help
Pachinko
Shuggie Bain
Half of a Yellow Sun
Infinite JestExplore the best-of lists
All 36 best-of lists →
Quick answers
Is The Kitchen God's Wife worth reading?
Yes. It spent weeks at #1 on the New York Times list. It ranks #1,376 of the 2,816 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 69.3 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is The Kitchen God's Wife about?
Winnie Louie and her old friend Helen have kept each other's secrets for fifty years. When Helen, believing she's dying, threatens to reveal them, Winnie decides to tell her daughter Pearl the truth herself: about her life in China before and during the Second World War, her marriage to a brutal man, and how she escaped to America. Pearl has a secret too.
How long does it take to read The Kitchen God's Wife?
About 11 hours (454 pages), or about 3 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after The Kitchen God's Wife?
If you liked it, try Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng or The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai.