ltaranto 's review for:

The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan

4.0

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Although Tan doesn’t always immerse me as deeply in scene as I would like, she always does a heart-wrenching yet ultimately hopeful portrayal of the deep bonds between Chinese American women. I thoroughly appreciated her take on the afterlife and the speculative element of this book. Part of this story is a contemporary account of a half Chinese woman and her tumultuous relationships with her half sister and her husband, trying to navigate and rediscover her family’s roots. Roots that span continents and lifetimes all the way back to the 1860s. The past lives of Olivia, her sister and her husband are narrated as stories told to Olivia by her sister Kwan, who is able to talk to ghosts and forever connected to the world of Yin. Kwan’s distinct voice and way of thinking makes this novel such a treat. I think of this a little as The Joy Luck Club meets Cloud Atlas, which is high praise indeed.