Chapter one: Jing-Mei Woo - The Joy Luck Club; narrator.

The Joy Luck Club commences with June as the narrator. The book has many different mothers and daughters sharing anecdotes of the Joy Luck Club. In the club, men and women come together to socialize about life in America and play mah jong. As the reader continues with the story, they learn that June's mother died 2 months ago. June's mother is strong and intelligent. She says, "My mother could sense that the women of these families also had unspeakable tragedies they had left behind in China and hopes they couldn't begin to express in their fragile English" (20). This quote explains some of the reasoning for the Chinese families coming to America. The reader does not know what the tragedies are, but the tragedy is there. When leaving China, these families had to leave behind many things. Some were good; some were bad. The Joy Luck Club was something they had to leave behind, so June's mother wants to begin that in the United States. After her mom's death, June is expected to take her mom's place in the Joy Luck Club. We end the chapter learning of June thinking of returning to Shanghai to meet her sister's.