The Joy LUCK Club is a 1989 novel by Amy Tan that follows the lives of four Chinese-American immigrant families in San Francisco. The title of the novel comes from the term 'The Joy LUCK Club, ' which refers to a weekly gathering of four women who play Mahjong and tell stories while feasting on a variety of foods. The term 'LUCK' is used to refer to the LUCK that the women believe they have in their lives, as well as the LUCK that they hope to bring to their families.