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The Hundred Secret Senses

3.92 of 5 stars 3.92 · rating details · 20,124 ratings · 930 reviews

The Hundred Secret Senses is an exultant novel about China and America, love and loyalty, the identities we invent and the true selves we discover along the way. Olivia Laguni is half-Chinese, but typically American in her uneasiness with her patchwork family. And no one in Olivia's family is more embarrassing to her than her half-sister, Kwan Li. For Kwan speaks mangled E...more

Paperback, 358 pages

Published 1998 by Vintage Books (first published 1995)

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Apr 08, 2008 James rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone who likes good, deep characters and interesting stories.

It's become a tradition for me to read Amy Tan's books when flying. My recent trip to Las Vegas was no exception, since at the last minute, I pulled down Amy Tan's The Hundred Secret Senses - the Kindle version - and dived into it as soon as I could turn my electronic devices back on.

Where to start? On the face of it, on the first page, the very first line, it's easy to imagine that Tan saw the movie The Sixth Sense and it resonated strongly with her. I don't know. No details are provided about...more It's become a tradition for me to read Amy Tan's books when flying. My recent trip to Las Vegas was no exception, since at the last minute, I pulled down Amy Tan's The Hundred Secret Senses - the Kindle version - and dived into it as soon as I could turn my electronic devices back on.

Where to start? On the face of it, on the first page, the very first line, it's easy to imagine that Tan saw the movie The Sixth Sense and it resonated strongly with her. I don't know. No details are provided about where this book came from, or how it came to be. But the book starts, "My sister Kwan believes she has yin eyes. She sees those who have died and now dwell in the World of Yin, ghosts who leave the mists just to visit her kitchen on Balboa Street in San Francisco."

There are ghosts a-plenty in this book. Two or three in particular are fundamental to the story line, and the stories of their lives, deaths, and in some cases reincarnations are woven seamlessly into the narrative, as Kwan shifts from her accented English into Chinese to tell her sister Olivia the stories. Kwan spends time in a mental institution for her troubles.

To Kwan, the ghosts are real. Olivia, born and raised in America, and not part of the culture Kwan is speaking from, is skeptical. And yet, against her will, over decades of listening to her sister, Olivia has learned the stories, internalized them, and become haunted by some of them herself, as well as taking on a few new ones.

The ghosts are the reason Kwan is so desperate to patch Olivia's failed marriage back together. The ghosts and their story are the reason Olivia, Simon (Olivia's ex-husband) and Kwan go to China. But a ghost can't change anything about its life. Ghosts are dead. It's for the living, the dying, and the newly born who ultimately bring the story to resolution.

Tan evokes both these women - Olivia and Kwan - so thoroughly you feel as though you know them, that you have known them since you were a child. Through the longstanding argument and story telling between them, she evokes the ghosts as well, and their stories, and their passions, their very lives that were, to the point that they too are characters in the present story.

If it sounds disjoint - like I'm still wrapping my head around this book, digesting it, trying to figure out how Tan did what she did, and why - that's because I am. There's a lot of story there. Tan's books are thick, dense with plot and rich with characters, and The Hundred Secret Senses is no exception. Totally immersive, and I found myself wishing my flight had lasted longer than the two hours or so it actually did, so I could get through more of it. As it was, I was up until 2:00am reading it in the middle of my vacation. It's that good. Read it. Enjoy it.

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Feb 10, 2012 Xavier Guillaume rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Lovers of Amy Tan, Those interested in Chinese ghost stories

Let me start off by saying that I LOVE Kwan! Her voice and self-assurance makes her cool, "Oh Libby-ah! I tell you secret. Promise not tell?" And then later in the book she becomes even cooler! A fifty year old lady crawling through caves. I can picture her saying, "We hakka strong! Don't worry me Libby-ah. I be right back!" :) I think a movie would be great! It has suspense, mystery, romance, death, ghosts! Not to mention the amazing visuals detailed in the story.

My only criticism is that Olivi...more

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Dec 01, 2009 April rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: all-time-favorites, china

The Hundred Secret Senses is now one of my favorite Amy Tan novels, rivaled only by The Bonesetter's Daughter. Yes, I love The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God's Wife and Saving Fish From Drowning - I love any Tan story I come across - but The Hundred Secret Senses (along with TBD) really stand out.

Olivia, the narrator, is the American-born daughter of a Chinese man and an American woman. When her father is on his deathbed, he reveals to his wife that he left behind a daughter in China, and asks...more

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Nov 13, 2011 ☮Karen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: cindy

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. When I bought this at a used book sale, there was a note inserted, "Her best book." That said, I'm still surprised to see the general rating for this book is higher than The Joy Luck Club and Bonesetter's Daughter, the 2 other Amy Tan books I have read. I didn't like this one quite as much, but still gave it a 4 for it's ability to keep me interested. The main character, Olivia, has an older half sister, Kwan, come live with the family after spending her formative years in China. It takes Olivia...more

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Nov 15, 2012 Hildred Billings rated it 4 of 5 stars

As I'm reading all of Amy Tan's works again, I realized, upon reading all their summaries, that "The Hundred Secret Senses" was the only book I couldn't remember anything about. (I read all the books around the same time before, so it wasn't like a loooon time ago.) Probably because Senses is not about Amy's classic mother/daughter dynamic, but a sister/sister relationship.

The story is about a 40ish woman named Olivia, who has put up with her elder half-sister Kwan's nosiness and...her incredib...more As I'm reading all of Amy Tan's works again, I realized, upon reading all their summaries, that "The Hundred Secret Senses" was the only book I couldn't remember anything about. (I read all the books around the same time before, so it wasn't like a loooon time ago.) Probably because Senses is not about Amy's classic mother/daughter dynamic, but a sister/sister relationship.

The story is about a 40ish woman named Olivia, who has put up with her elder half-sister Kwan's nosiness and...her incredible ability to talk to spirits. Like a medium. Actually, that's exactly what Kwan is. A very well-meaning medium who can't stay out of anybody's business, and doesn't even care when people call her names and shun her for being weird.

Olivia finds herself with a failing marriage, her 17yo relationship with Simon always meddled with the ghost of his first love. Kwan decides the only way to fix their marriage is to take them all on an excursion to her tiny village in China, where Olivia discovers that all of Kwan's stories about past lives and ghosts are true...and what they have to do with herself.

The first thing to note about this book is its voice. I'm a firm believer that Tan is one of the only authors who can pull off first person present and not make me want to run for the hills screaming. That said, there are two POVs in this book - one for Olivia, and one for Kwan. Olivia is a snooty, bratty woman (and child) with a fantastic "woe is me and my messed up family" complex that makes you want to slap her more than once. (And so of course I loved Olivia, because she reminds me of the type of person we hate because she says what we all are thinking but don't have the balls to say.) On the other extreme, we have Kwan, who speaks in broken English. They both love going off on tangents that make you forget what they were originally talking about. But if you're not new to Tan's books, this shouldn't bother you at all.

I found myself gobbling this book up and wondering why the hell I never remembered it. I mean, there's no "reveals" because all the "omg what a twists!" are so damn obvious that even M. Night wouldn't touch them, but the actual writing itself keeps you along for the ride. "Why don't I remember this? This could easily become one of my favorite books!" I thought to myself.

Then I got to the ending.

Which is where a star off comes from.

The ending is trite and contrived, and overall a huge disappointment that makes you go, really? I think I rolled my eyes so hard they're still trying to go back into place. And in that process, the ending asked way more questions than it answered. The pure "whatever" I felt at the end reminded me why I never remembered anything about this book later. Still, you'll notice I gave it four stars - because until the end, I really did love this book, from Olivia's epic cynicism to Kwan's witty stories. As long as I pretend the last two chapters didn't happen, I'm good!(less)

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Dec 14, 2011 Tocotin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-literature, my-own-books, used-books, historical-fiction, far-east

I bought this one after having enjoyed "The Joy Luck Club", but couldn't get into it somehow. Then after a few days I got back to it and finished it really fast. Hm. I did enjoy it, to a point.

It's a story of two half-sisters, 'American' Olivia and 'Chinese' Kwan. Olivia is the main character/narrator, apart from the moments where Kwan talks about her previous life as a Hakka girl during the Taiping uprising (which was one of the reasons why I wanted to read this book - but the Taipings are mai...more

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Jun 30, 2010 Ellya Khristi rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Buku ini saya pinjam dari Perpustakaan Kota Malang, terjemahan tahun 2006, dan baru saya selesai baca hampir seminggu. Beda dari buku sebelumnya yang bisa habis dalam tempo 1 hari. Sebabnya? Walau dari segi ketebalan hampir sama, namun ukurannya lebih besar dan otomatis lebih banyak kata-kata. Kedua, penceritaannya butuh konsentrasi dan imajinasi karena penggambarannya secara mendetail untuk hampir setiap kalimat. Jadi tentu saja, butuh waktu lebih lama untuk membaca, dan harus dibaca berulang k...more Buku ini saya pinjam dari Perpustakaan Kota Malang, terjemahan tahun 2006, dan baru saya selesai baca hampir seminggu. Beda dari buku sebelumnya yang bisa habis dalam tempo 1 hari. Sebabnya? Walau dari segi ketebalan hampir sama, namun ukurannya lebih besar dan otomatis lebih banyak kata-kata. Kedua, penceritaannya butuh konsentrasi dan imajinasi karena penggambarannya secara mendetail untuk hampir setiap kalimat. Jadi tentu saja, butuh waktu lebih lama untuk membaca, dan harus dibaca berulang kali untuk memahami ceritanya kalau sedang tidak konsentrasi.

Buku ini bercerita tentang Kwan, kakak perempuan dari Olivia, yang penceritaannya menggunakan sudut pandang Olivia, kecuali saat Kwan sendiri yang berbicara (yang kadang-kadang membingungkan siapa yang berbicara, apakah Olivia atau Kwan, kalau tidak memperhatikan dan membaca pengantar sebelumnya yang kadang-kadang tidak ada).

Kwan, percaya ia punya mata yin. Ia mampu melihat arwah orang yang sudah meninggal dan sekarang menghuni Dunia Yin. Dimulai dari pertemuan Kwan dan Olivia, kakak tirinya. Kwan adalah saudara lain ibu, dari ayah yang sama, ayah dari China. Mereka bertemu ketika usia Olivia hampir enam tahun, dimana Kwan terbang dari China ke San Fransisco, tempat Olivia dan keluarganya yang akan menampungnya berada. Sejak saat itu hidup Olivia berubah. Bagi ibunya, Kwan adalah baby-sitter yang terampil, penurut, andal dan gratis. Bagi Olivia, Kwan adalah pengganggu yang menempel terus dan ikut kemanapun ia pergi.

“Sudah sepatutnya aku berterima kasih pada Kwan. Aku selalu bisa mengandalkannya. Tak ada yang lebih disukainya daripada berada di dekatku. Tapi aku malah hampir selalu merasa kesal padanya karena mengambil alih tempat ibuku.” (hal. 19)

Cerita bergulir, Kwan yang dirawat di rumah sakit jiwa karena Olivia menyampaikan rahasia Kwan, yaitu soal mata yin Kwan. Namun hingga saat ini tak pernah sekalipun Kwan mempersalahkannya atas kejadian itu. Kwan kini sudah hampir 50 tahun, sedangkan Olivia 12 tahun lebih muda darinya, dan Kwan masih tetap saja memanggilnya Libby-ah, tak pernah marah padanya, dan membuat Olivia merasa bersalah selamanya.

Dalam bulan-bulan terakhir, Olivia harus menghadapi kenyataan bahwa perkawinannya dengan Simon akan berakhir. Dan selama itu pula, Kwan selalu berusaha agar Olivia tak bercerai dengan Simon, entah kenapa. Selain itu, Kwan selalu saja bercerita tentang mimpi-mimpinya, terutama tentang dirinya di kehidupan sebelumnya di sekitar tahun 1864 (yang kemudian akan mendominasi cerita hingga menjelang akhir). Dirinya sebagai Nunumu, tentang Nona Banner, Rumah Saudagar Hantu, Jenderal Cape, tempat tinggalnya di Changmian, Yiban, Lao Lu, Pendeta Amin,Ny. Amin, Nona Tikus, Dr. Terlambat, Zeng, para serdadu Manchu yang menyerang Changmian atau malah cerita Kwan tentang Buncake, yang tertukar jiwanya sehingga Kwan, hingga saat ini menghuni tubuh Buncake, sedangkan tubuh Kwan sendiri sudah dikubur karena dianggap mati tenggelam.

Cerita berputar sekitar kehidupan sebelumnya Kwan, pertengkaran Olivia dan Simon, kembali ke mimpi Kwan, tentang ibu Olivia, kembali ke cerita Kwan, kemudian cerita tentang pertemuan Olivia dan Simon 17 tahun yang lalu, kembali ke cerita Kwan, dan seterusnya hingga perjalanan Olivia, Simon dan Kwan ke Changmian yang berujung hilangnya Kwan selamanya.

Ceritanya sarat dengan keraguan Olivia terhadap cerita Kwan, terutama terkait dengan mata yin-nya. Sebagai orang Amerika, dia menolak mempercayai sesuatu yang tak bisa dilihatnya, atau bertentangan dengan logikanya. Seumur hidupnya ia menolak mempercayai khayalan-khayalan Kwan, meragukan kemampuannya dalam melihat hantu, dan seratus indra rahasianya. Apa itu indra rahasia?

“Ah! Aku sudah begitu sering bilang padamu! Kau tidak mendengarkan? Indra rahasia sebenarnya bukan rahasia. Kita bilang rahasia, sebab semua orang punya, Cuma lupa. Indra sama seperti kaki semut, belalai gajah, kulit kerang, lidah ular, atau benang sari bunga. Banyak hal, tapi digabung jadi satu.”

“Bagaimana aku bisa menjelaskan? Mengenang, melihat, mendengar, merasa, semua datang bersamaan, maka kau tahu dalah hati sesuatu itu benar. Seperti salah satu rasa, aku tidak tahu cara mengatakannya, misalnya rasa menggelitik. Kau tahu ini: tulang tergelitik mungkin akan turun hujan, ingatan jadi segar. Kulit lengan tergelitik, ada sesuatu yang menakutkanmu, mengepungmu, kulitmu bisa merinding. Ubun-ubun tergelitik, oh-oh, sekarang kau tahu sesuatu itu benar, lalu merembes ke hatimu, tapi kau masih belum mau percaya. Selain itu bulu dalam hidungmu juga bisa tergelitik. Kulit di bawah lengan merasa tergelitik. Rasa tergelitik di belakang otakmu – kalau kau tidak berhati-hati dengan yang satu ini, kau akan dapat celaka besar, mm-hm. Gunakan indra rahasiamu, kadang-kadang kau bisa dapat pesan bolak-balik dengan cepat di antara dua orang yang hidup, yang mati, tidak jadi masalah, indranya sama.” (hal.124)

Namun walau Olivia tak pernah menyukai kehadiran Kwan, Olivia diam-diam bersyukur karena memiliki kakak seperti Kwan. Hal itu baru disadarinya saat ia berpikir ia sudah kehilangan seluruh cinta dalam hidupnya, Kwan-lah yang mengajarinya menemukan kebahagiaan, menggunakan seratus indra rahasia. Sayangnya, ia baru menyadarinya saat Kwan menghilang. Seperti kata orang, kamu baru merasa seseorang itu begitu berharga setelah dia pergi…
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Feb 08, 2013 Annette rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan is as captivating as any of Amy Tan’s works including The Kitchen God’s Wife and The Bonesetter’s Daughter.

Kwan enters Olivia’s life in an unexpected way when Olivia’s father dies and his daughter from his first marriage comes to live with them in America. Five-year-old Olivia would have preferred a new turtle or a doll; instead she got an older half-sister. Seeing Kwan at the airport Olivia thought she looked like a chubby old lady with braids dressed in pa...more

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Sep 01, 2012 Alanna rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Maybe this book was just spoiled for me because I had to take a break in the middle of reading it (I couldn't steal the house copy from the place we were staying, and then it took me a while to get a new copy from the library). But it just didn't do much for me. I think the biggest problem was simply that I didn't like any of the characters. Olivia, the main character and narrator, is constantly trying to sabotage her relationship with her separated husband, Simon and is always awful to her half...more

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Jun 03, 2012 Bethany rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In this book, Amy Tan looks back to ancient China and times of childhood in California.

This covers in a "novel way" my interest in the possibility of past lives and spirits hanging around to encourage or berate people they have known.

The area in China is around the province of "Guilin" an area of mystic and eerie mountains, meadows, and caves. It is an area of China that I have not seen, but would love to see sometime in the future.

Amy Tan's writing style is high energy, jumping quickly around i...more

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Apr 18, 2012 Anna Engel rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's the same basic Amy Tan plot. The details have changed, but the essence of the story is exactly the same as every other Tan book I've read. In this case, though, not only does the narrator have mommy issues, she also has older-sister-from-China issues.

Basically, I got bored. I've read most of Tan's novels and have realized that she has a template. She found a formula that worked in The Joy Luck Club and hasn't really changed it since then.

1. Female main character.
2. She's caught between two...more

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Aug 11, 2011 Robyn rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Having been a little disappointed by my only other foray into Amy Tan territory - an audiobook of The Bonesetter's Daughter, listened to whilst living in China - I began reading The Hundred Secret Senses with some trepidation, but ultimately an open mind. My boss had lent me her unread copy of the book, asking me to give her my opinion, and I hoped that I would thoroughly enjoy it and hand it back with my blessings and encouragement to get stuck in as soon as possible. I intended to finish The H...more

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May 07, 2011 Gina rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This heartwarming story is told through the eyes of Olivia, a typical American who talks about the Chinese culture and the uniqueness of her family. Olivia tells the story of her life, from when she was a young girl with her Chinese half-sister, Kwan, who has "yin-eyes" and can see the dead to the present, with the troubles of her marriage, stemming from her inability to hold back her anger. Her jealousy to Simon's late ex-girlfriend is apparent after she finds out that Simon is in love with her...more

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Jan 04, 2011 Nova rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 05, 2010 Mimi rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book could kind of be called "The Sixth Sense, Amy Tan Style". After all, there is a strange similarity between the first line of this book ("My sister Kwan believes she has yin eyes.") and the often quoted line from "The Sixth Sense" ("I see dead people!"). Yet, Amy Tan's tale is a story of Chinese mysticism, family ties, and modern and historical China - a fascinating albeit weird novel!

This is the story about the relationship between half-sisters Kwan and Olivia. Kwan comes from China an...more

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Aug 16, 2009 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: cultural-historical-fiction

I wasn't sure where this book was going at first. It was a little slow to get started, but once it did, I really enjoyed it! I'm not typically a fan of first person narrative, and I seem to be reading an awful lot of it lately, for some reason, but Amy Tan pulls it off pretty well.

The contentious bond between Olivia and Kwan is something that many sisters will recognize, although the antagonism typically goes the other way, from OLDER sister to YOUNGER sister. In this case, the glance into Kwan...more

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Feb 04, 2013 Teresa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love Amy Tan - she explores the relationships of mothers and daughters, sisters, and friends with sincerity and integrity and with an effectiveness other authors can only aspire to. It's evident she puts much research into each books as always there is good representation of Chinese history in her writing. To me this lends credibility to her work ~ when she understands the historical context of her story so well, her characters respond more naturally to their situations. The attention to detai...more I love Amy Tan - she explores the relationships of mothers and daughters, sisters, and friends with sincerity and integrity and with an effectiveness other authors can only aspire to. It's evident she puts much research into each books as always there is good representation of Chinese history in her writing. To me this lends credibility to her work ~ when she understands the historical context of her story so well, her characters respond more naturally to their situations. The attention to detail is so strong that often I lose myself in her writing, having physical repsonses such as smelling the tealeaves on the floor of the bath house in the Kitchen God's Wife.

A Hundred Secret Senses, while well written is not my favourite. This is for a few reasons I'll outline here:

My strongest issue with Secret Senses is the relationship between Olivia and Simon and of course Simon's dead girlfriend Elza. That early on in his friendship with Olivia Simon leads her to believe Elza is still alive, that their relationship begins with is confession that she is dead AND was pregnant when she passed, and that Olivia becomes a surrogate Elza to the point of using her mugs - DROVE ME CRAZY!!!!! When a musical piece Elza wrote as an undergrad becomes a theme song for a hit tv show, Simon of course buys a copy and plays it often, telling visitors they were lovers. Later on Olivia discovers Simon has pursued his dream to write a novel only to discover that it is an extremely detailed tribute to ELZA. This is the most unhealthy relationship I've witnessed since Heathcliff and Cathy, and yet Olivia is told by both Simon and her sister Kwan that her issues with Elza have always been in her head? Um, no.

Kwan I think is an interesting character, the most interesting for me. I don't know that Olivia ever fully accepts her or appreciates her the way Ms. Tan perhaps expects her too. This seemed to come in a rush as the novel ends, perhaps too tidily for me. Olivia dismisses Kwan for the entire book but only when Simon is missing does she embrace Kwan, fully accepting her, only for ....... not going to spoil it.

My last disappointment was that Tan never resolves the relationship between Olivia and her mother. If the important people in Olivia's life are reincarnations from past lives who was her mother? Surely after the visit to China and the events that transpire, Olivia would seek out her mother to at least confront their issues?

Good read, not my favourite but it well worth the time. (less)

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Dec 13, 2010 Kelly Hager rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a hard book to describe. On the one hand, it's a story about relationships (familial and romantic) and on the other, it's a story about past lives and ties that connect us from one lifetime to the next. No matter which of these draw you in, both aspects of the story will keep you enthralled.

Olivia always kind of resented her older half-sister, Kwan. She's from China and they share a father (who has since died) and, because she was 18 when she moved to the States, she's never fully assim...more

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Jan 07, 2008 Erin Hepner rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I just love the heartwarming characters in this book. In typical Tan fashion, there is always more than meets the eye with them. As in the Joy Luck Club, and the Kitchen God's Wife, Tan illustrates how our pasts, and more importantly, the pasts of our family, make up so much more of ourselves than we care to acknowledge. It is the constant struggle of the first-generation American to reconsile the plight of who they will become, and what their past dictates they already are.

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Aug 30, 2012 C. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: up-to-2012

We've heard of Amy Tan with great respect but I was unsure "The Joy Luck Club" was for me. A fan of mystique, "The Hundred Secret Senses" was a title that drew me. I expected Amy's work to be very good ~ she plays keyboard in a hobby band with Stephen King for Pete's sake. The journey I discovered is so epic and multifaceted, I doubt a blockbuster film could do it justice. The numerous storylines are dynamic and none you will forget.

'Olivia' learns her Dad had a previous family. They locate the...more

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Feb 07, 2013 Julie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really like Amy Tan's books. Yes, they are all quite similar, mother daughter relationships between Chinese-America women, but it doesn't bother me because she does it so well. Once again, there were some mommy issues in this book (this woman seriously needs a sit down with Freud) but it reads so honest and do I dare admit even a little bit familiar, so I actually appreciate the truth behind her insights and observations.

I did not like Olivia very much though. It was hard to have sympathy/emp...more

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Aug 26, 2011 Christine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: other

What an odd book. This is one of those I never would have picked up had it not been for my book club, and another one of those reasons I'm glad I'm in a book club, and that I use it to help me read outside of my comfort zone. I'm still not entirely sure what this book was about, nor what I'm supposed to believe about it, but it was very human and intense. There was something, underneath all the talk of ghosts and past lives, very believable about this story...like something you know is there eve...more

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Dec 26, 2010 Yun Zhen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: asian-stories

Lovely story :) Not as mindblowing as The Bonesetter's Daughter, but good enough for me to stay up into the wee hours just to finish devouring this book.

The story started out slow and took longer than I liked to reach the climax and there are still a few unanswered questions that I would have preferred answered, like what was Olivia's father's real name. But I guess in the big scheme of things, these little questions are inconsequential and would have distracted from the main plot.

What won me...more

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Jun 13, 2011 Heather rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Olivia was born to a Chinese father and American mother and has lived all her life in San Fransisco. Her father passes away while she’s still young, but not before telling her mother he was married before and fathered a child in China. As his dying wish, he asks Olivia’s mother to find this child and bring her to America. Soon Olivia’s half-sister, Kwan, is living with the family, but she’s not what you would call normal by Chinese nor American standards. Kwan claims to have yin eyes, a conditio...more Olivia was born to a Chinese father and American mother and has lived all her life in San Fransisco. Her father passes away while she’s still young, but not before telling her mother he was married before and fathered a child in China. As his dying wish, he asks Olivia’s mother to find this child and bring her to America. Soon Olivia’s half-sister, Kwan, is living with the family, but she’s not what you would call normal by Chinese nor American standards. Kwan claims to have yin eyes, a condition that allows her to see and speak with the ghosts of the departed, and also to have had some very interesting past lives which she shares in detail with Olivia over and over again. Olivia doesn’t much like Kwan, and the two sisters never manage to have the close relationship that Kwan so hopes for. Olivia is also having problems of a different kind, for she is going through a divorce from Simon, a man whom she once loved but now can’t stop arguing with. Though Kwan tries to push Olivia and Simon back together over and over again, it’s only when the three agree to go to China for a visit to Kwan’s old home that Simon, Olivia and Kwan discover each other again and realize the fateful place they all share in one another’s lives. Part family drama and part ghost story, The Hundred Secret Senses is Amy Tan at her best, once again telling a story that is nestled somewhere between China and America.

I’ve long been a fan of Amy Tan’s work and have read just about everything she’s ever published. I originally read this book many years ago but had pretty much lost whatever insights I had on it over time. When the opportunity came to review the book, I jumped at it, because who could refuse a stay in Tan’s lush and wonderful world once again. As I read, little bits of the book came back to me, but I have to admit that most of it took me by surprise, which was just what I had been hoping would happen. Though this is not my favorite of Tan’s books (that honor would go to The Kitchen God’s Wife) I did have an excellent time rereading this one. Tan is a master at creating the kinds of characters that you instantly care for and her plot lines are just wonderful.

Kwan and Olivia are a strange pair, and though they share no similarities or traits, Kwan is forever speaking about the likenesses between them. While Kwan is loving and forgiving, able to believe in past lives and ghosts, Olivia is more canny and headstrong; sometimes she can even be considered cruel. As the girls grow and mature together, they never lose these traits. Despite the fact that Olivia treats her shabbily, Kwan is always looking out for her younger sister and always willing to think the best of her. I liked Kwan, but Olivia was a different matter. She was often hard-hearted and emotionally cantankerous, who, when forced to deal with the softer and nobler emotions, often turned selfish and vindictive. This is true not only in her relationship with Kwan but in her relationship with Simon as well. Olivia is aghast with Kwan most of the time and resents her with a passion that Kwan refuses to notice or internalize, and with Simon, Olivia is jealous and possessive, not giving him the space or time to grieve his past losses.

As Kwan tells Olivia the story of her past life, she shares how she lived with Jesuit missionaries in 1800s China and befriended an American woman named Miss Banner, who had secrets of her own. This historical fiction component was wedged seamlessly into the modern day storyline and presented Kwan in a more full and all-encompassing light, revealing her her character, not only from days past, but in the present as well. As the historical plot line advances, we see the reason it was so hard for Kwan to be loyal to Miss Banner and why the woman came to depend on her above all others. This storyline skirted the lines between war, loyalty and romance, and was the perfect companion story to the modern day tale of Olivia and Kwan.

In the modern timeline, Olivia begins to reveal her failed relationship with Simon, and she creates a picture of a broken man and couple whom time has never been able to heal. Simon and Olivia’s relationship is plagued by the yearning Olivia suspects him of feeling for a lover from his past, and when Simon, Kwan and Olivia travel to China to visit Kwan’s homeland, each go searching for something different. As the trip progresses, resentments and doubts rear their ugly heads but begin to fall away after the unthinkable happens. The three then embark on new and tenuous courses in their relationships, and Olivia discovers a secret about herself that will not only change her relationship to Kwan, but to Simon as well.

This book is actually several stories within a story, and as it flows gracefully along, the themes of identity, family and memory are visited and revisited in the narrative. It ends on a bittersweet note, yet it’s not devoid of hope, and though some of the characters show great emotional growth, others hang on to stubborn and recalcitrant behaviors. It was a story that highlighted the importance of forgiveness and showed the delicacy and love between sisters so different from each other, yet so similar. A great read that will wrap you in Tan’s spell until the final page.

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Nov 16, 2009 Marissa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

One of the things I have loved about Amy Tan's books is her ability to write complex stories with multiple strands that merge seamlessly together creating an experience that is both magical and relative. The Hundred Secret Senses parades that ability, and creates a story that is part familiar and part supernatural.

The characters are highly developed through their very believable emotions, relationships and realistic dialogue. I love that the conversations and arguments often sound like ones I ha...more

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Aug 19, 2012 Jenn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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This is one of my favorite books. Even though this does not belong to a series, I found it helpful to read The Joy Luck Club and The Kitchen God's Wife before this one. They give you a feel for Tan's writing style and a good sense of Chinese culture. The Hundred Secret Senses introduces a much more metaphysical element. Wonderful and beautiful!

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Mar 09, 2012 Kathleen Ann Bergen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Hundred Secret Senses is, at it's heart, a book about relationships. Relationships between mothers, sisters, lovers... relationships with the past, with cultures, with our own belief systems and the values of others all weave a spell binding tale told in the voices of two half-sisters with radically different insight into the world around them.

Chinese Kwan, with her brazen & unapologetic sense of self, deeply rooted in her mystical view of the world, is juxtaposed beautifully against Am...more

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Jan 06, 2010 Tyquan Boyd-chatman rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The hundred Secret Senses is a very good book at times, however there are parts I didnt like. For example when Kwan was telling olivia a story of someone she met in china while she was there. It was actually of the topic that was being discussed and not to mention it was extremely boring. On the contrary if you could get past that chapter than the rest of the book would be a breeze. After that the book goes back to what's going on in Olivia's life. If you like 1st person narratives I would recom...more

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Jan 31, 2013 Ashley rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Good novel overall. Sort of a bittersweet but poignant ending. Amy Tan doesn't disappoint, but I will say that once you have read enough of her novels, you begin to find that the views expressed about China and the United States don't change, and so it no surprise really that Kwan, the Chinese protagonist, seems to have been depicted on better terms than Olivia. I'm not saying that Amy Tan or her works are Anti-American, I only think that one of the major motifs throughout her body of novels is...more

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Sep 19, 2012 AdriAnna rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I met Amy Tan at a writer's conference a few years ago, and had the pleasure of listening to her in several sessions. It gave me a completely different insight to her stories.

Although she writes novels, a large amount of what she uses is actually pulled from her family history. At first I was a little annoyed that her books seem to cover the same bases and topics over and over, but after listening to her at the conference I realized that was because there was so much detail to be settled and not...more

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About Amy Tan

Amy Tan (Chinese: 譚恩美; pinyin: Tán Ēnměi; born February 19, 1952) is an American writer whose works explore mother-daughter relationships and what it means to grow up as a first generation Asian American. In 1993, Tan's adaptation of her most popular fiction work, The Joy Luck Club, became a commercially successful film.

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