Mother-Daughter Relationships in Joy Luck Club and One Hundred Secret Senses In life, many things can be taken for granted, especially those that mean the most to you . You may not realize it until you've lost everything. As I walk the road to the end of my adolescence, I am slowly discovering a better understanding of my mother. The kind of bond that mothers and daughters have is more than difficult to describe. It's probably the biggest roller coaster ride of emotions I will ever have the chance to experience in my life. But, for those of us who are lucky enough to survive the journey in one piece, it's an amazing learning experience that will impact your entire future. In Amy Tan's novels, The Joy Luck Club and A Hundred Secret Senses, she describes the relationships between mothers and daughters who reflect on their parents' life experiences. Four mothers, four daughters, four families... whose stories change dramatically depending on who "tells" them. In 1949, four Chinese women, recent immigrants to San Francisco, begin meeting to talk, eat dim sum, and play mahjong. As June's mother said, "The idea was to bring together four women, one from each corner of mahjong." table" (Joy p.32) Being together in sharing unspeakable losses and hopes, they call themselves the Joy Luck Club. Instead of sinking into tragedy, they choose to come together and lift their spirits. "To despair was to long for something already lost. Or prolong what was already unbearable." (Joy p.134) In other words, why sit and continue to reflect on the tragedy, it is better to let go of the past and move forward. In The Joy Luck Club, Tan examines the aspects sometimes painful, often ..... .in the center of the sheet ......a closer relationship with their families. Works cited and consulted"Amy Tan's Biography." Discovering the authors ."Criticism, Amy Tan" DISCcovering Authors, Gale Research Inc, 1996.Buck, Claire. "The Bloomsbury Guide to Women's Literature." diaspora in The Joy Luck Club." in <>Criticism. Volume 34, No3, Spring 1993 pp 193-99.(on GaleNetTan Amy. The Hundred Secret Senses, New York; Mass Market Paperback, 1996Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club. New York; Mass Market Paperback, 1994Willard, Nancy. "Tiger Spirits." 10-11, July 1989, page 12. (on GaleNet)*The interview with Amy Tan was conducted on the cover of the added hardcover copy of The Joy Luck Club.