The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan
Ghosts of the Past
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 pajamas bellowing a loud
“Hall-ooo!” Kwan is a built-in embarrassment.
She’s awkwardly unfamiliar with American culture. She’s tactless, loud,
talkative, and annoyingly upbeat. She’s the crazy relative you don’t want anyone
to know about. But she’s also very tolerant and kind with
the more self-absorbed Olivia. In her endless prattle, Kwan tells Olivia about
Chinese superstitions and ghost stories.
She explains to Libby (Kwan can’t pronounce her name right, so calls her
Libby-ah) that she has “yin eyes” and can see ghosts.
As an adult, Olivia has listened to Kwan’s tales all her
life and she’s tired of them. She has
very little patience for Kwan and acknowledges that she never does anything
with Kwan unless it’s out of guilt. Besides, she has her own worries with
her marriage unraveling. But Kwan is ever eager to help in her own way. In an
effort to bring the two back together, Kwan plans a trip for the three of them
to China. There the “ghost stories” come
to life in tales that alternate between past and present.
Each Chinese year is represented by an animal which repeats
in a twelve-year cycle. This is the year of the snake. Find out what Chinese Zodiac Animal You Are: http://www.chinesenewyears.info/chinese-new-year-calendar.php
Gung Hay Fat Choy!
(Best wishes and congratulations.
Have a prosperous and good year.)
Happy Chinese New Year!
Happy Reading!
Annette
Happy Reading!
Annette
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