Here are 15 authors whose works you might enjoy if you appreciate Amy Tan’s storytelling:
Much like Amy Tan, Lisa See explores Chinese-American culture and history in her novels.
Her book “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan” delves deeply into the secret, and often painful, intricacies of female friendship in 19th-century China.
An acclaimed author, Lahiri writes with a poignant depth about the Indian-American experience, much like Tan does with the Chinese-American experience.
Her debut, “Interpreter of Maladies,” won the Pulitzer Prize and explores the complexities of cross-cultural existence.
Known for her novels “Everything I Never Told You” and “Little Fires Everywhere,” Ng examines family dynamics and the subtleties of identity and race. Her intricate storytelling is sure to resonate with Amy Tan fans.
Just like Tan, Divakaruni threads her stories with rich cultural textures and strong women characters. Her novel, “The Mistress of Spices,” blends magical realism with deep cultural roots, enriching the reader’s experience.
Li’s works often bring a tender yet profound look at the modern Chinese experience, much like Tan’s exploration of Chinese-American life. Her novel “The Vagrants” dives into the Cultural Revolution’s harrowing impact on her homeland.
An award-winning author, Jin writes about the Chinese experience both in China and as immigrants in the United States. His novel “Waiting,” which won both the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, thoughtfully examines life and love under the weight of tradition and change.
Tsukiyama’s novels such as “The Samurai’s Garden” celebrate Asian culture and delve into human connections and historical contexts, much like Amy Tan’s works do, providing rich, evocative narratives.
Her Booker Prize-winning book, “The Inheritance of Loss,” which delves into the lives of Indian immigrants and their poignant stories of cultural dislocation and longing, may evoke similar emotional resonance for fans of Amy Tan.
Min, in her autobiographical novel “Red Azalea,” offers a riveting, personal look at China’s Cultural Revolution, paralleling the historical and cultural depth found in Tan’s novels.
With her epic family saga “Pachinko,” Lee brings to life the struggles and triumphs of a Korean immigrant family in Japan, a tale that echoes the generational narratives and cultural tensions seen in Tan’s works.
Her novel “Bone” explores the fabric of family life in San Francisco’s Chinatown, much like Tan’s stories do. Ng offers a heart-wrenching yet hopeful narrative about immigrant Chinese families and their internal dynamics.
Her Booker Prize-winning “The God of Small Things” is a richly detailed, emotionally intense narrative set in India, akin to Amy Tan’s layered storytelling and cultural explorations.
Well-known for her memoir “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother,” Chua’s work explores the pressures and cultural expectations within Chinese-American families, a familiar theme for readers of Tan’s novels.
Though not exclusively focused on Asian cultures, Ishiguro’s subtle, introspective, and emotionally nuanced storytelling, as seen in “Never Let Me Go” and “The Remains of the Day,” may appeal to Amy Tan’s readers.
Ozeki’s works, such as “A Tale for the Time Being,” offer beautiful, multi-layered narratives that bridge East and West, exploring themes of identity, family, and memory, much like Tan’s novels.