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The Hundred Secret Senses: A Novel Paperback – December 28, 2010

by Amy Tan (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 2,425 ratings
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The "wisest and most captivating novel"(Boston Globe) from the author of the bestselling The Joy Luck Club and The Backyard Bird Chronicles

Set in San Francisco and in a remote village of Southwestern China, Amy Tan's The Hundred Secret Senses is a tale of American assumptions shaken by Chinese ghosts and broadened with hope. In 1962, five-year-old Olivia meets the half-sister she never knew existed, eighteen-year-old Kwan from China, who sees ghosts with her "yin eyes." Decades later, Olivia describes her complicated relationship with her sister and her failing marriage, as Kwan reveals her story, sweeping the reader into the splendor and violence of mid-nineteenth century China. With her characteristic wisdom, grace, and humor, Tan conjures up a story of the inheritance of love, its secrets and senses, its illusions and truths.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    368 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Penguin Books
  4. Publication date
    December 28, 2010
  5. Dimensions
    5.2 x 0.8 x 7.9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0143119087
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0143119081
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Amy Tan is the author of The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God’s Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, The Bonesetter's Daughter, The Opposite of Fate, Saving Fish from Drowning, The Backyard Bird Chronicles, and two children’s books, The Moon Lady and The Chinese Siamese Cat, which has been adapted as Sagwa, a PBS series for children. Tan was also the co-producer and co-screenwriter of the film version of The Joy Luck Club, and her essays and stories have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies. Her work has been translated into more than twenty-five languages. Tan, who has a master’s degree in linguistics from San Jose University, has worked as a language specialist to programs serving children with developmental disabilities. She lives with her husband in San Francisco and New York.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books; Reprint edition (December 28, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0143119087
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0143119081
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.2 x 0.8 x 7.9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 2,425 ratings

About the author

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Amy Tan

Amy Tan

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Amy Tan is the author of The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God's Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, The Bonesetter's Daughter, The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life, and two children's books, The Moon Lady and Sagwa, which has now been adapted as a PBS production. Tan was also a co-producer and co-screenwriter of the film version of The Joy Luck Club, and her essays and stories have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies. Her work has been translated into thirty-five languages. She lives with her husband in San Francisco and New York.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D0pwe4vaQo

www.amytan.net

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
2,425 global ratings
Funny and Charming Book of Sisters
5 Stars
Funny and Charming Book of Sisters
THE HUNDRED SECRET SENSES focuses on Olivia, a Chinese-American woman, and Kwan, her older sister who was born in China. The novel opens explaining that Kwan has “Yin Eyes,” which means she is able to see ghosts. Now in middle age, Olivia separates from her husband, Simon. After they get an offer to write a piece for a magazine together, Kwan convinces Olivia and Simon to go with her to China to write about Chinese food and to see the village where she was born.This book is structurally interesting. The novel follows a fairly straightforward plot in present day San Francisco and China. These sections are broken up by stories told from Kwan’s point of view, allegedly from a past life. Kwan speaks with an accent and the writing matches her accent, except for the storytelling parts which is in a more traditional English style.I loved this book. I was not sure what to expect, but I thought it was surprising and engaging and interesting. I was confused at times jumping back and forth between the two time periods, but eventually I was able to follow which led to a satisfying ending. I loved Kwan and thought she was really funny. Olivia was frustrating at times, especially her treatment of Kwan, but she grew as a character and was sympathetic. This book explores themes of love, identity, and memory. The prose is beautiful and the story captivated me.▪️
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Top reviews from the United States

Litr8r
5.0 out of 5 stars Another great read
Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2008
Verified Purchase
Tan's novel of the conflicts between two very different Chinese-American sisters spent 12 weeks on Publisher's Weekly's bestseller list. As in Tan's previous novels, we meet a cast of wonderful characters and explore their hopes and conflicts. It was not as good as The Kitchen God's Wife, but still a very enjoyable read.

In this story, Olivia, daughter of an American mother and a Chinese father, discovers that she has a Chinese half-sister. She meets 18-year-old Kwan for the first time shortly after their father's death. Kwan adores her new sibling and introduces Olivia to her Chinese heritage through stories and memories. Olivia finds Kwan's information sessions embarrassing, especially as she talks about past lives. As Olivia grows older, she can find a place in her life for Kwan's Chinese superstitions, spirits, and reincarnations. Eventually Olivia--now a photographer--travels to China on assignment with her writer husband, and Kwan serves as their interpreter. When the group visits the village where Kwan grew up, Olivia experiences an epiphany about Kwan's lessons: Our departed loved ones are lost only to our ordinary senses; by remembering, we can find them again anytime using our hundred "secret" senses. Definitely something to think about!
4 people found this helpful
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Nan Healy
4.0 out of 5 stars Another Fabulous Amy Tan Book
Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2014
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Amy Tan loves to write about relationships: mothers and daughters, friends, spouses, and in this book, step-sister to step-sister.

The book is set in real and distant time past. The heroine, Olivia, acquires a step-sister who arrives from rural China when Olivia is very young. The step-sister, Kwan, speaks her own version of English and is forever less polished and sophisticated than San Francisco-born, educated and privileged Olivia. Kwan also has the ability to go back in time and talk to dead people, a skill that Olivia alternately feels is either a figment of Kwan's imagination or a symptom of mental illness.

Olivia can only see Kwan as something less than a real sister and a person who is more of an embarrassment to her than a family asset. Kwan, on the other hand, loves and admires Olivia from day one and never wavers in her sisterly devotion to her. The story is about Olivia's transition from resistance to acceptance of Kwan for who she is and gradually recognizing her great value as a human being and loving relative..

The reader will experience great humor, sorrow, entertainment , acquired knowledge, and empathy as the story of Olivia and Kwan unfolds along with that of many other characters in this book. Amy Tan's books are always a wonderful reading experience and this one is no exception.
17 people found this helpful
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standardpoodlesrock
5.0 out of 5 stars One of Amy Tans better written books
Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2024
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Amy Tan should stick to this type of writing.
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W. Bishop
3.0 out of 5 stars I wasn’t prepared for the story
Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2023
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Well written but I was not ready for the story that was told or the angst it generated. Not my favorite Amy Tan, but glad I read it.
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I buy way too much!! 5150
5.0 out of 5 stars I am mainly a non-fiction reader...but...
Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2023
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I am normally a non-fiction reader but got sucked into a book by Amy Tan called the Bonesetters Daughter and absolutely fell in love with her realistic writing style about families and the history of why things are like they are! Bought this for my mom and of course after she read it, I stole it from her and was not disappointed. 10 out of 10!
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Ratmammy
4.0 out of 5 stars Kwan's yin eyes....
Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2003
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THE HUNDRED SECRET SENSES by Amy Tan
THE HUNDRED SECRET SENSES by Amy Tan uses a similar pattern which her previous books seem to follow, in which she starts the story in America with characters that are full- or part Chinese, and have a relative or two that tells them stories of the old country. In Tan's most creative book, she introduces the reader to Olivia Laguni, whose father was Chinese and mother was white. Laguni is her stepfather, her father having died when she was only a toddler. Obviously, Laguni at one point adopts her and her brothers, giving them a new name and in essence wiping out her ties to her Chinese family.
Then, along comes Kwan. From that point on, Olivia feels tormented by this half sister. By this time, Olivia's father has been gone for years now. But Kwan comes to America from China to become part of their family forever. A much older sister, Kwan brings to Olivia stories of the old country, for Kwan is the product of Olivia's father and his first wife, all of whom were living in China. Although Olivia considers herself Chinese, her ties are with her birth country of America, and she finds it very hard to relate to her older sister who seems to be more mother than sister as Olivia grows into adulthood. Kwan is there to take care of her while her mother is somewhat absent from Olivia's life. And part of Kwan's mothering is telling Olivia stories about a strange world - where she sees and talks to ghosts.
Kwan's impact on Olivia is obvious, in ways that Olivia could never admit. But as the reader sees, Olivia's relationship with Kwan grows in strength as they grow older, and especially when they make a trip to China, along with Olivia's estranged husband Simon. After years of listening to Kwan's stories of a previous life in 1800's China, this world comes to life as they explore this land that is Olivia's heritage.
THE HUNDRED SECRET SENSES was not my favorite Amy Tan book. There were a lot of elements that made it difficult to fully enjoy this story, including the paranormal facets that were part of Kwan's character. Having said this, I ended the book understanding what Tan's message was in this story and I felt very satisfied. It is not a book I highly recommend to all readers, but I feel that if one is patient enough to get through the stories that Kwan tells about her past life, one will be rewarded at the very end.
20 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2023
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I love Amy Tan books. She never disappoints and this book was no exception. Highly recommend.
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Michelle-Joy Q.Butac
5.0 out of 5 stars Heartwarming
Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2023
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I have been following Amy Tan since for almost three decades.
This book talks about a lot of values.
Value of Love, Value of Protection, Value of Security and Value of Sisterhood.
Never fails to make me cry.
This is the third time I have read this book and I learn more things as I finish each chapter.
Here’s to more books!
3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Bob
5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Tan
Reviewed in Canada on June 26, 2022
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Purchased this as a gift for my daughter and she loved it.
(It's obvious she shares he father's good taste!)
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Raji
4.0 out of 5 stars Strange characters interwoven with past and present events
Reviewed in India on November 14, 2017
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As always, Amy Tan writes about relationships in the family, and the book spans the distant past and the present. The main characters are the heroine, Olivia and a long unknown step-sister Kwan who come to the USA from rural China when Olivia is a child. Kwan can communicate with dead people, and through this she traces events from past history.

The Americanized Olivia is initially ashamed of the unsophisticated Kwan, but eventually learns to accept and love her. As in all Amy Tan's books many stories are intertwined, and several characters (including ghosts) flit across the pages of this book. I preferred her other books, The Joy Luck Club and The Kitchen God's Wife, although this book too is eminently readable.
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John
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in France on April 20, 2015
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The writing is a pleasure to read: precise, elegant, fluid. She captures well the world in between. And she helps us to let go of our inherent préjudices towards 'the chinese'. And it is a real pleasure to read.
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Ronnie
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best Books Ever!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 30, 2014
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I love this book and have read it several times. I have even bought it several times. But it's so good I end up giving my copy away to someone because it's so good I want to share! I was very happy to get a decent used copy on Amazon at a great price. Reading it once again and loving it once again. Amazing story that is beyond belief, yet feels so wonderfully true that you end up believing it. In my opinion this is Amy Tan's best book. As all of her books are, it is a wonderful blend of Chinese folk history and culture, through the eyes and experiences of Americans. Don't miss this one!
3 people found this helpful
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maria
5.0 out of 5 stars Great novel about the "Yin-world"!
Reviewed in Germany on October 21, 2002
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I couldn't stop reading this book, although my English is not that good I had to read thru it within 3 days! It is a great story about a "modern" woman and a "traditional" woman from China and how their life-stories are linked together. I loved the style how the novel is written, I couldn't stop reading. So watch out, you won't get much sleep once you started with it!
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