Her recently deceased mother, Ru Zhijuan, was one of the most famous writers in mainland China during the 1960s. Her father, Wang Xiaoping, was a film director. The family moved to Shanghai when little Anyi was a small baby. Thanks to the literary atmosphere at home, she was able to recite classical poetry at the age of three or four.
一九五四年生的王安憶，剛過逝的母親茹志鵑是大陸六○年代著名的作家，父親王嘯平是一位導演，王安憶在周歲時隨著家人來到上海定居。