Part memoir, part “talk-story”, The Woman Warrior follows five Asian women in their quest to make a life for themselves in a world that does not want them.

Kingston explores the story of her two Aunts, Mother, the legendary Fa Mu Lan and finally, herself as the daughter of first-generation immigrants. Through a combination of honest narrative and fascinating Chinese folklore and mythology, the reader gains a deeper understanding of the women who surrounded and influenced Kingston. Brave, strong, flawed, and fiercely intelligent, they fought quietly against the sexism that plagued Chinese culture and against the racism that still haunts America.

The Woman Warrior is an inspirational and intriguing memoir, but it is also sad. It is a writer telling her story and the story of the vastly different people who inhabited her life, all connected by the familiar thread of pain, suffering, and womanhood. There is no resolution to the many issues that arise through the book and at times, it does not show China in the most favorable light. This may not be the happy-ending story we’ve grown to expect from memoirs, but it is important and every person who wonders what it really means to be a woman should read it.