The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan
A Novel
Title: The Hundred Secret Senses
Author: Amy Tan
Publisher: G. P. Putnam’s Sons
Publication Year: 1995
ISBN: 9780399141140
Rating: 3.5 stars
The Hundred Secret Senses is about Olivia, a woman living in San Francisco in the 1980s. When Olivia was four years old and her father was on his deathbed, he informed her mother that he has an older daughter named Kwan, who he left in China when he immigrated to the United States before he met Olivia’s mother. It is his dying wish that Olivia’s mother find Kwan and bring her to the US so that his family can all be together.
Olivia’s mother spends the next two years tracking Kwan down and bringing her to the US. At first, Olivia is afraid that her big sister is meant to replace her, but once she accepts that that isn’t happening, Olivia begins to get excited imagining what her much older sister will be like. However when a stout and jolly Kwan gets off the plane, she isn’t at all the sister that Olivia had in mind. To make things worse, the neighborhood kids tease Kwan and call her “retarded” because she is still learning English and doesn’t understand a lot of things about life in the US that are different from things in her remote village in China. Olivia is embarrassed by Kwan and their relationship is further complicated by Kwan’s “Yin eyes.” Kwan insists that she has Yin eyes that allow her to see and communicate with ghosts (though Yin people don’t like to be called that). Olivia doesn’t really believe her, and yet is still terrified by all the dead people Kwan claims to be able to see and communicate with in their shared bedroom.
While Olivia resents and is cruel to Kwan, Kwan has always wanted a little sister and instantly loves Olivia. When Olivia’s mother moves on with a series of volunteer projects and new romantic partners, Kwan takes over and is Olivia’s main caretaker, a role she relishes despite Olivia’s hostility. When Olivia tells her mom and her stepdad about Kwan’s belief that she can communicate with the dead, Kwan is institutionalized and undergoes shock therapy. Olivia had promised not to tell anyone about Kwan’s Yin eyes and feels guilty that she is the reason Kwan receives ECT. Yet, when she is released from the hospital, Kwan still feels no ill will toward Olivia and never blames her for her hospitalization.
As the women grow up, they remain in constant contact, both living in San Francisco. They talk regularly and see each other for family events often, but Olivia mostly finds Kwan annoying and Kwan is really the one who works to keep in touch. Occasionally, Olivia does turn to Kwan for help, like when she is in college and wants Kwan to help her convince her boyfriend, Simon, to get over his dead ex-girlfriend using her Yin eyes, but their relationship is mostly one sided.
In the present day of the story, Olivia and Simon are separated and going through the process of divorce after a long marriage. Simon has moved out of their condo and they are working on winding down the media business they run together so that they can financially, professionally, and romantically go their own ways. Kwan is convinced that Olivia and Simon are soul mates who belong together and must reconcile, and isn’t above using subterfuge to bring them back together. As usual, Olivia resents Kwan’s meddling and tries to avoid her altogether. This becomes a lot more difficult when a magazine commissions Simon and Olivia to write and photograph a story about China that they had pitched before their separation. Olivia is ready to let the opportunity go, but eventually both Simon and Kwan wear her down, and soon all three are headed to China: Simon to write the story, Olivia to photograph it, and Kwan to act as a tour guide and translator because despite both Simon and Olivia being partially Chinese, Simon speaks no Chinese and Olivia only speaks limited Mandarin.
Interwoven throughout the story of Olivia and Kwan, is the story that Kwan has been telling Olivia their whole lives. It is the story of one of Kwan’s past lives where she was a one-eyed village girl named Nunumu living with American missionaries. Her best friend was an American woman named Miss Banner who also lived with the missionaries. The women both died in 1864 during the Taiping Rebellion. Olivia does not believe in these stories, but they serve as constant interludes to the main story.
As Olivia, Simon, and Kwan return to Thistle Mountain where Kwan grew up, the stories start to sound more and more familiar among the unfamiliar landscape of rural China.
I was really torn about this book. I’ve read some of Amy Tan’s other stuff and liked it, but I struggled a little with this one. I was really into the historical parts of the novel that took place in Kwan’s past life. I don’t know much about that period of history in China or the events that led up to the Taiping Rebellion. Nunumu didn’t really know much about current events either given the information technology at the time, so it was interesting to hear about it from her perspective juxtaposed with the perspectives of the missionaries she lived with that were receiving information from different sources.
In the “modern day”/current lifetime sections, I had a hard time staying in the story. I really liked the character of Kwan. I could see how Olivia finds her annoying but she seemed to be genuinely motivated by love and acting in the best interest of those she cared about. I kind of wish the book would have been from her perspective instead of Olivia’s. I couldn’t stand Olivia. She did have some traumatic childhood experiences, but she is such a narcissist. She is misanthrope and always makes herself the victim of every situation. I can also be kind of misanthropic, but I think it takes a special kind of jerk to get someone committed to a psychiatric hospital where they undergo ECT and then making yourself the victim because you feel guilty and they won’t blame you. I felt she was well matched with Simon who is so oblivious to the thoughts and feelings of others. When someone does finally get their perspective through to him, he just minimizes their emotions. Unfortunately, because the story is told from Olivia’s perspective, the reader is stuck with her and her thoughts and recollections of Simon throughout the novel. I ran out of sympathy for both of them early on and just wanted more Kwan. Olivia does experience some character growth throughout the story and I liked her more toward the end, but I still didn’t like her that much.
I do think that it is a testament to how lovable of a character Kwan is and Tan’s writing skills that I was able to love her so much. Like I said, the story is mostly told from Olivia’s perspective and despite her feelings of annoyance toward Kwan, I found Kwan to be delightful. Kwan loves Olivia unconditionally and is willing to do anything for her, but despite how much I liked Kwan, that goodwill toward Olivia didn’t rub off on me.
However, in sitting and reflecting on this book while I write the review, I do wonder how other readers feel about Kwan. If someone were to come up to me and tell me that they had Yin eyes and could see and talk to dead people, I’d be skeptical. Like Olivia, I may just humor them and not believe them. Yet, for some reason, while reading this book, I just believed Kwan, no questions asked. Maybe it’s because the book is fiction, but it is set in our world so the same rules should apply. I think Tan planned for the debate on whether or not the reader should believe in Kwan’s abilities to factor more into the experience of the story. If so, I messed that up by just accepting it as fact from the first line of the book. Perhaps in part it’s because from the first three paragraphs before I really knew who Olivia was, something about her tone made me dislike her. It might be an act of rebellion that Olivia’s first introduction to the reader is her throwing shade at Kwan’s abilities, so I decided to blindly believe in them. It wasn’t until late in the book when Olivia asked someone Kwan knew as a child if they believed that Kwan could see the dead and they didn’t enthusiastically agree that I even realized that perhaps I was supposed to question it. Knowing that others question it did give me pause, but not much, and after finishing the book, I still think I’m right.
This is definitely not my favorite Amy Tan book, but I found it a worthwhile read if only for the historical parts and the unique setting.