Author similar to Amy Tan

[Jenkeywoo]

I've been really enjoying books by Amy Tan, I'm looking for other authors in a similar style - I particularly enjoy reading about life in China. Thanks.

Have you read Wild Swans? would recommend it if not..gives an excellent insight into the female perspective of life in China through the years..

No, have not read it, who is it by? I'll have a look at the library tomorrow. Thanks!

jung chang
tis fabbo

arthur golden
memoirs of a geisha

I think I have read mostly everything that Amy Tan has written, and haven't found any other writer that writes about China and about the topics she does. Would it help if I suggest other authors that I like that are slightly similar in style to hers?

I loved memoirs of a geisha .. also loved 'Empress Orchid' but can't remember the author as it came from the library.

Yes please, I read every night when getting dd off to sleep and am getting through 2-3 books a week so any suggestions most welcome.

have you read geraldine brookes
'year of wonders'?

not a similar subject at all
throwing arrows in the dark....but maybe you might have similar reading styles to me????!!!

no, haven't read it, will give it a go. Thanks. I tend to rush around the library in 5 mins so end up with a real mix of books.

its written about the plague
fantastic book

"Yes please, I read every night when getting dd off to sleep and am getting through 2-3 books a week so any suggestions most welcome. "

Reading them slowly?

Someone is going to come an shoot me for dairing to suggest they are similar but these are the ones I liked:

-Girl with a pearl earring by Tracy Chevalier

-The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende (you may have already seen the movie but the book is amazing!)

-Victoria Hislop's The Island.

-I liked all the stories of Precious Ramotswe (by Alexander McCall Smith) mainly because they are the typical good book to go to sleep, they are interesting, a bit exotic, charming but not over gripping.

-if you like reading sad stories narrated by a member of a family (as Amy Tan ) perhaps Susana Tamaro's "Follow your heart" it's a good option (I sobbed all the way through it, although I read it in Spanish so I'm not sure about the English translation)

• Angeles Mastretta's "Tear this heart out" is a good one too, although somewhat difficult to find.

just cant get into the island.... not sure on the writing style.

is it worth carrying on??

When I started it I thought it was a waste of money, then it became more interesting, but at the end of the day is a matter of personal preference. Millions of people say MobyDick is a classic but the more that I try to read it the less that I understand what's the fuss about.

There is a book that is guaranteed to keep you attached to it if you manage to get pass the first chapter, although I confess that I devoted a week of ALL my awake time to read it, I went to sleep with it and even woke at midnight to see what happened next, it is very gripping but also a bit "educational" here
Nothing to do with Amy Tan though!

I quite like 'the island' but have since read reviews on Amazon saying it's a really dreadful book. Just shows what I know!

There are lots of books by Chinese authors about women. My best friend (Chinese descent) and I read them avidly! Amy Tan is fab, can second Jung Chang Wild Swans. Just read Snowflower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See about a secret language known only to women in one province of China. V. good.

Memoirs of Geisha was interesting but made me a bit uneasy because it was written by a bloke so slightly ... erm.. seedy? Just that whole men-Geisha-ick stuff. Apparently the woman who was the basis for his chief character wrote her own biography after this book came out but I haven't come across it.

Agree re Girl with a pearl earring btw, may not be about China but if you like Amy Tan will probably appeal.

I read Wild Swans years ago but found the author (it's a memoir not a novel) rather irritating. I don't think that apart from China, the writers have much in common. Amy Tan is Chinese American.

I like novels about the experiences of women experiencing differences in cultures. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's Sister of My Heart is about two cousins who are brought up in India but both end up emigrating to the US.

Someone else mentioned Isabel Allende and that's a suggestion worth considering.

Or for a suggestion set in Britain, there's Monica Ali's Brick Lane.

I agree that Snowflower and the secret fan is great [if rather sad], also Red Azeilia[?] is very good if you are interested in Mao's china and the revolution, also Empree Orchid is very good. I love books about other countries so will have a think of any other recommendations...

If you like the poignant humour of Amy Tan then try Timothy Mo's Sour Sweet or Monkey King, i came from him to amy tan

For autobiographies try Geisha of Gion by Mineko Iwasaki or Life and Death In Shanghai by Nien Chieng

For novels what about Waiting by Ha Jin

and off at a tangent :Ghostwritten by David Mitchell or Watching the English by kate fox