By delving into vivid memories of her traumatic childhood, confessions of self-doubt in her journals, and heartbreaking letters to and from her mother, Amy Tan gives evidence to all that made it both unlikely and inevitable that she would become a writer. She explores shocking truths uncovered by family memorabilia --- the real reason behind an IQ test she took at age six, why her parents lied about their education, mysteries surrounding her maternal grandmother --- and, for the first time publicly, writes about her complex relationship with her father, who died when she was 15.