Great fiction has great powers. It can depict the difficulties of assimilating into new cultures. It can convey the heartbreak of relationships. It can even shed light on the ways people can misunderstand each other. Wait a second. That sounds a whole lot like reality! It’s amazing how much of Tan’s classic novel The Joy Luck Club illuminates many of the dilemmas we have in our everyday lives. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan tells a story about four Chinese-American daughters and their incredibly realistic relationships with their Chinese mothers. In the story, the “Joy Luck Club” is the group originally formed in China and recreated in San Francisco, California. One half of the novel explains the four mothers’ lives in China before they moved to the Land of Opportunity, the United States. They talk about their relationships with their mothers, and what causes them to move to San Francisco. The other half explains the daughters’ lives as American-born Chinese. The book highlights the struggle between adopting American culture and keeping Chinese heritage, both desires often colliding with each other. The mothers also struggle with getting along with their own daughters since at times they have completely different mindsets. I highly recommend this book to anyone, since the mother-daughter struggles are relatable to any reader, especially women and girls. Essentially, people can relate to this book, whether they are facing the problems of being multicultural, struggling with familial relationships, or simply dealing with misunderstandings between family members. The Joy Luck Club highlights these themes beautifully. It is definitely Tan’s most successful and moving piece of literature. The Joy Luck Club will send you on a promising adventure of happiness, tears, and laughter.