Amy Tan on grief, gardenias and first short story

Updated November 15 2017 - 9:48am, first published October 31 2017 - 8:24am
Sydney Mag . Garden at 11 Burrabirra Ave Vaucluse . journo  Paul Urquart . Gardenia . Pics by Tanya Lake 4th November 2004 . SPECIAL 00029736
Sydney Mag . Garden at 11 Burrabirra Ave Vaucluse . journo Paul Urquart . Gardenia . Pics by Tanya Lake 4th November 2004 . SPECIAL 00029736

When I wrote my first short story, I used the image of a gardenia. The story concerned a woman who was struggling to understand the sudden death of her husband. It was heavily influenced by my own emotional experiences with the sequential deaths of my older brother, Peter, and my father.

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