Where Ms. Tan writes about contemporary Chinese-Americans, her portraits are often witty and complex. You want to know more about people like Uncle Henry Kwong, who insists on videotaping the funeral of a relative, or Roger Bao-bao, who feels ready to be one of the pallbearers because he has been "pumping iron." But the plight of a maiden victimized by an arranged marriage seems very old stuff. Amy Tan can probably do better. One hopes that she soon will.

Within the peculiar construction of Amy Tan's second novel is a harrowing, compelling and at times bitterly humorous tale in which an entire world unfolds in a Tolstoyan tide of event and detail.