The Kitchen God's Wife

By: Amy Tan

Narrated by: Gwendoline Yeo

Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Winnie and Helen have kept each other's worst secrets for more than 50 years. Now, because she believes she is dying, Helen wants to expose all that has been concealed, when she decides to celebrate the Chinese New Year by unburdening herself of everybody's hidden truths - her own and Winnie's, as well as the dreadful news that Winnie's daughter, Pearl, has been keeping from her mother.

So begins a series of comic misunderstandings and heartbreaking realizations about luck, loss, and trust, about the things a mother cannot tell a daughter, the secrets a daughter keeps, and the miraculous resiliency of love.

©1991 Amy Tan (P)2008, 2016 Phoenix Books

Critic reviews

"Remarkable...mesmerizing...compelling.... An entire world unfolds in a Tolstoyan tide of event and detail." ( New York Times)

Wonderful book

First, I read the book then many years later I listen to it. Loved it each time.

Not Tan's best, but still very good.

Again, Tan starts off slow with this story. Once it gets moving though, it is hard to put down. I had some issues with the performance more than anything else. While in China, the narrator gave strange accents to people. One person had the voice of a California Valley Girl. Peanut, the Winny's cousin, sounded like she might have had a brain injury (but she didn't). At times the narrator's Chinese accent seemed to slip into a British-like accent. I think she was trying to show us that people in China have different dialects just like people in the U.S., but it distracted me more than anything else. As with Tan's other books, the women in this story are strong and determined - I loved them and didn't want the story to end.

ending gets me every time...

this is a great story and I get tears in my eyes everytime I reach the end.

The story was good

I did not like the narrator. The story was very interesting and well done. Enjoyed the book

love Amy Tan!

I love this novel by Amy Tan! The inspiring and touching transformational emotional work done by the main character and her mom makes this yet another one of Tan's awesome mother/daughter, self-identify, inter-cultural, and inter-generational works!

Narration unintentionally funny

The story is great and I always enjoy it. The narration is generally quite good. Some of the characters have a distinct California accent. In 1930's China : D. Also, Aunt Du speaks in a way that sounds -just- like monks doing Gregorian chants. Made me smile every time I heard it!

what the hell, telephone call sounds?????

ruined the entire experience of the book 39 min before ending telephone calls appeared all of a sudden

Loved this book! A true treasure!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Kitchen God's Wife to be better than the print version?

I haven't read the print version of this book so I cannot compare.

What did you like best about this story?

The beautiful writing, the lessons of life and the sacred and complicated relationship between mother and daughter.

What does Gwendoline Yeo bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Gwendoline Yeo brings The Kitchen God's Wife to life! She is an amazing storyteller, weaving in and out of characters flawlessly, luring me into the story until I was so deeply into it that I did not want it to end.

If you could take any character from The Kitchen God's Wife out to dinner, who would it be and why?

I think I would go out with Auntie Du. I would love to hear about her own life's journey and to especially just listen to her melodic voice (as narrated by Gwendoline Yeo).

Any additional comments?

My favorite book in a long time!

Terrible Narration, wonderful story

I’ve loved this story since I first read it in print, but the narrator was so terrible it was disappointing. The voice of Aunty Du was so oddly and over-exaggerated-sing-songy it was incredibly distracting. The accents were also transient for several characters, coming-and going, making it difficult to keep track of who was speaking.

Great book!

I think Auntie Helen may be one of my favorite fictional characters ever! Tan’s development of this character as well as the world created is brilliant!