The Bonesetter's Daughter: Amazon.co.uk: Amy Tan: Books

Amazon.co.uk Review

Amy Tan's fourth novel The Bonesetter's Daughter, like her highly successful The Joy Luck Club, explores the conflicts between a Chinese-American woman and her Chinese mother. Set in San Francisco, Ruth and her mother LuLing exercise a frosty commitment to each other. When her mother begins to show signs of Alzheimer's, and her talk of bad luck and curses becomes more jumbled, Ruth realises that her encroaching dependency will change her life. She questions how she will she care for a parent who she mostly resented throughout her childhood. The illness finally prompts Ruth to get her mother's autobiography translated and the central section of the book becomes LuLing's story of her mother, the bonesetter's daughter.

Tan excels at locating the small, quotidian details of Californian domesticity and works the fissures and rifts between the generations very well. She can also blend hip, pop psychology with inherited Chinese lore to amusing effect. But the narrative starts to hum with energy and drive as the story is told from LuLing's perspective. The story shifts to a small Chinese village known as Immortal Heart, in the thirties, where LuLing's mother learnt her father's skill with a splint and special dragon bones dug out of a cave called Monkey's Jaw. The quality of the writing takes on the charm and compulsion of a fable as Ruth's grandmother's tragic life unfolds. In turn, Ruth uses what she learns of the maternal line of resilience to retrieve her own writing voice and vision: "These are the women who shaped her life, who are in her bones...They taught her to worry...They wanted her to get rid of the curses." As she recognises what her mother wants to remember, she begins to define what she wants for her own life.--Cherry Smyth

Review

'Compelling…exotic lands and the past lend themselves to poetry. Tan turns the familiar but harrowing accounts of pre-Communist Chinese women into a romantic and intriguing tale. LuLing is a classic Tan character, a resilient survivor who, like Olivia in The Hundred Secret Senses, betrays someone close to her with dire consequences.' TLS

'A classic…[told with] originality and humour…this is a delicious pagge-turner that keeps you guessing, laughing and crying until the end.' Sunday Express

'She is a dazzling storyteller, equally adroit at negotiating the pitfalls of Ruth's freewheeling partnership with Art and recreating traditional family life in rural China, with its superstition, ritual and social hierarchies. The Bonesetter's Daughter celebrates the importance of family history, in particular the stories shared between mother and daughter, and makes an unobtrusive plea for the right of all human beings, however humble or displaced, to an informed, sensitive and patient hearing.' Literary Review

'Could there be a better model for writers today than Amy Tan? She tells great stories with powerful themes: love, belonging, exile, death, compassion. She moves easily between pathos, comedy and joy. She never shows off – the technique is so perfect it is invisible. She is that rare, enviable creature, a literary novelist who writes bestsellers.
This is great tragic writing, looking at the worst of human experience with a compassionate and understanding eye. I doubt if any writer alive is capable of telling such a story.’ Scotland on Sunday

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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

Moving and fascinating 18 Jan 2002

By Rachael

Format:Paperback

I have always been a fan of Amy Tan and after reading The Joy Luck Club and The Hundred Secret Senses I thought the impact of Tan's books would somehow have faded. However, I was completely wrong.

Tan's portrayal of the Mother-daughter relationships is delicate and subtle yet moving, lucid and realistic.

The story of Lu-Ling and Precious Auntie is fascinating from both a historical and emotional point of view. Tan's ability to draw us into the an old world of fable and superstition is remarkable.

Tan's characterisation is also very accurate. Her characters have faults, they live in a world we all recognise.

The Bonesetters Daughter is joy to read, lyrical and vivid. I would recommend this book to any one, regardless of age or culture. This is a beautiful book and like it's author, should be celebrated.

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

Touching,amusing attention grabbing to the end 26 April 2001

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

Another example of Amy Tan's skill in exploring the difficulties of parents bringing up children in a very different culture from the one they themselves were born into; and those children's difficulties in understanding the pressures that have shaped their parent. Touching, amusing account of mother/daughter relationship, as daughter unravels the mystery of her mother's past life

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

Amy Tan's winning formula delivers the goods again 3 Jan 2002

In revisiting the themes of family history, mother-daughter relationships and their complexities within ABC families, Amy Tan has given us yet another beautifully crafted book.

It is a testament to her skill that fans never tire of the subject matter. Memories of her sharply-drawn charaters remain, long after the reading is done. For this reason any Amy Tan release an eagerly anticipated treat.

Here she has tapped into the rich seam of her Chinese cultural heritage to bring alive such vibrant, unforgettable characters as LuLing and the ill-fated Precious Auntie of her rapidly failing memory.

This work does not quite top the genius of "The One Hundred Secret Senses", but it will not disappoint Amy Tan fans. An absolutely cracking read.

bonesetters daughter

This was chosen as the book for our last book club meeting in may, I enjoyed it very much, as it was about the relationship
between a mother and daughter,and what made the... Read more

Published 14 days ago by cecelia

Excellent read

For me this is her best book. I have read Joy Luck Club, 100 Secret Senses and Kitchen God's Wife all of which are excellent but this book tops them all. Read more

Published 2 months ago by Jayngelle

Unveiling greatness too well hidden

Tan weaves a vast tale of family secrets revealed, in which people seem to hide all that is best in themselves. Read more

Published 11 months ago by Brian Griffith

Another good book

I read The Joy Luck Club and thought it was really good so thought that I would give this book a try. I am glad that I did. A facinating read. Very good.

Published on 15 May 2009 by Campbell79

Great - A Lovely story beautifully told

What a great novel. I'm usually a bit of a snob when it comes to books and was not overly impressed when reading the blurb for this - it sounded like the exploration of a Mother... Read more

Published on 9 May 2006 by Mr. T. S. Raper

Hard going to start, but worth the effort!

This was my first Amy Tan book, I wasn't quite sure what to expect but in the end it was worth the effort. Read more

Published on 7 Feb 2006 by Emma 606

Healing Family Connections in a Rich Historical Context

Ms. Tan has written a monumental novel of the 20th century Chinese immigrants' challenges. The book offers many insights into how children can better integrate into their families... Read more

Published on 25 July 2004 by Donald Mitchell

Published on 10 May 2004 by Donald Mitchell

V good again!

Once again Amy Tan shows us what a great novelist she is.
Tragic and uplifting at the same time, she manages to stir the senses with her descriptions of people, places, events... Read more

Published on 5 Feb 2004 by "dianeandtom"

The Bonesetter's Daughter [Hardcover]

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