Product Description

Stunning reissue of an international bestseller, from the author of The Joy Luck Club and The Bonesetter's Daughter Olivia Yee is only five years old when Kwan, her older sister from China, comes to live with the family and turns her life upside down, bombarding her day and night with ghostly stories of strange ancestors from the world of Yin. Olivia just wants to lead a normal American life. For the next thirty years, Olivia endures visits from Kwan and her ghosts, who appear in the living world to offer advice on everything from restaurants to Olivia's failed marriage. But just when she cannot bear it any more, the revelations of a tragic family secret finally open her mind to the startling truths hidden in Kwan's unorthodox vision of the world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38112 in Books
• Published on: 1996-11-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Review
'Tan's women sparkle and sing off the page. I longed for even more of Kwan -- a gorgeously feisty portrait of a Chinese-American housewife, chattering as loudly about the mole on her husband's testicles as the price of pickle-turnips. Kwan is a breathtaking creation.' Julie Myerson, Independent on Sunday 'The sheer buoyancy of Tan's writing, the gutsy humour and the sheer verve of the narrative as it bounces along, from modern San Francisco to nineteenth-century China, is entrancing.' Iain Finlayson, Financial Times 'A wonderful story, told with wit, humour and enormous intelligence. Literary prizes and critical acclaim should be heaped on Amy Tan's head.' Marie Claire

About the Author
amy tan is the author of four critically acclaimed, internationally bestselling novels. Her first novel, The Joy Luck Club, was nominated for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award and was a recipient of the Commonwealth Gold Award. The Joy Luck Club was also adapted into a feature film in 1994. Her subsequent novels are The Kitchen God's Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, and The Bonesetter's Daughter. She lives in San Francisco and New York.

Customer Reviews

The Hundred Secret Senses - by Amy Tan
To anyone interested in reading this book, or in fact any other work by Amy Tan - I implore you to make this particular title a must have on your bookshelf at home!
It really is a fantastic story, very heartfelt - and Tan has a unique style of writing which draws you effortlessley into the characters lives at all times. If you choose to go ahead and read the book, you will get to know the characters so well throughout the story that, - once you have finished you will probably be left wondering about them still.

Up until eighteen months ago, I had never heard of Amy Tan, and just happened to pick up a book at work that had been forgotten by someone who had left the company. I started to read it on all breaks, and was engrossed so quickly that I even began to focus more on the story than on my work!

There is so much detail in the book that you can tell straight away how much effort Tan has put into creating it. Never before have I read a book where the authors passion shines through in their work to such a fabulous degree.
Although this is a review, I have made a decision not give away any of the storylines themselves, as it really is too good to be spoiled by an amateur book review. All I will say though is that it is set both in modern day America, and also China - and this gives so many great cultural insights to the reader. I honestly learned quite a lot from this book, as well as just plain well enjoying it!

To sum the book up in three words: - Unique, refreshing and intriguing.

Past Lives and Dead Chickens - I'd like more
The Hundred Secret Senses was my first Amy Tan book, and it's left me wanting more.
Her characters Olivia and Kwan quickly develop into the kind most soap writers would envy; the ones that leave you eager to know what they'll get up to next. While this is happening a magical tale effortlessly unfolds. It's a tale which smoothly links modern American ideals and lifestyles with more old-fashioned ideas, all the time hinting at tenious links with exotic and turbulent Chinese legends.
The story abruptly turns itself around, speeding up the pace when the main characters move to China. From then on the links with the past become increasingly powerful with the lives of present day characters forced to parallel some of those in the past.
Electric shock therapy, reincarnation, marriage breakdown and slaughtering chickens are just some of the topics covered on the way to Amy Tan's breathless yet satisfying conclusion.

Deeply moving and witty
I read this book about 3 years ago, and the memories have stayed with me ever since. It moves from past to present day, and keeps you coming back for more. I enjoyed the bits on Chinese culture which has always intrigued me, and the way Amy Tan brings out the inividual personalities of her characters.