Learn about the background and continued relevance of the novel The Joy Luck Club in this video from the American Masters film Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir. Published in 1986, The Joy Luck Club was a break-out hit for its author, Amy Tan. For years, Tan had been working intensely as a freelance business writer. But Tan wanted to pursue more personally meaningful work. She began reading and writing fiction, a process that she found allowed her to write about her family and the person under the guise of fiction.

The Joy Luck Club centered on a major theme of Tan’s life, the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters. Based in part on the story of her mother and grandmother’s experiences in early to mid-twentieth century Shanghai, China, the novel traces the lives of four members of The Joy Luck Club, a social club for Chinese American immigrants, and their American-born daughters. 

This educational resource includes discussion questions, a writing exercise, and an interactive prediction activity that draws from a selection ofThe Joy Luck Club.