Hundred Secret Senses, The (S Orange Prize For Fiction 1996)

Description: Stunning reissue of an international bestseller, from the author of The Joy Luck Club and The Bonesetter's Daughter Olivia Yee is only five years old when Kwan, her older sister from China, comes to live with the family and turns her life upside down, bombarding her day and night with ghostly stories of strange ancestors from the world of Yin. Olivia just wants to lead a normal American life. For the next thirty years, Olivia endures visits from Kwan and her ghosts, who appear in the living world to offer advice on everything from restaurants to Olivia's failed marriage. But just when she cannot bear it any more, the revelations of a tragic family secret finally open her mind to the startling truths hidden in Kwan's unorthodox vision of the world.

Review: 'Tan's women sparkle and sing off the page. I longed for even more of Kwan -- a gorgeously feisty portrait of a Chinese-American housewife, chattering as loudly about the mole on her husband's testicles as the price of pickle-turnips. Kwan is a breathtaking creation.' Julie Myerson, Independent on Sunday 'The sheer buoyancy of Tan's writing, the gutsy humour and the sheer verve of the narrative as it bounces along, from modern San Francisco to nineteenth-century China, is entrancing.' Iain Finlayson, Financial Times 'A wonderful story, told with wit, humour and enormous intelligence. Literary prizes and critical acclaim should be heaped on Amy Tan's head.' Marie Claire

Prizes: Shortlisted for Orange Prize for Fiction 1996.

Author Biography: amy tan is the author of four critically acclaimed, internationally bestselling novels. Her first novel, The Joy Luck Club, was nominated for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award and was a recipient of the Commonwealth Gold Award. The Joy Luck Club was also adapted into a feature film in 1994. Her subsequent novels are The Kitchen God's Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, and The Bonesetter's Daughter. She lives in San Francisco and New York.