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Article: Excavating Memory, Reconstructing Legacy - Excavating Amy.(Amy Tan)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- The World and I
- Article date:
- July 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 News World Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Amy Tan's mother Daisy once asked her, "If I die, what will you remember?"
The question unsettled Tan, who had endured a troubled relationship with her mother for years. Tan's answer to that question was her first novel, The Joy Luck Club. Tan refers to her mother as her muse, and her mother's tumultuous life in China has served as inspiration for all four of Tan's novels.
Daisy Tan was born to a wealthy Shanghai family. After Daisy's father died, her mother, Jing-mei, was raped by a rich man who wanted her as his concubine. When she gave birth to a son, one of the man's wives claimed him as her own, and Jing-mei committed suicide by swallowing ...