A hundred secret senses

“The next world is 'segregated'? You can go to the World of Yin only if you're Chinese?"
"No-no! Miss Banner, she not Chinese, she go to Yin World. All depend what you love, what you believe. You love Jesus, go Jesus House. You love Allah, go Allah Land. You love sleep, go sleep."
"What if you don't believe in anything for sure before you die?"
"Then you go big place, like Disneyland, many places can go try - you like, you decide. No charge, of course.” 

- Amy Tan, A Hundred Secret Senses

I managed to read this in intervals throughout London / Denmark (actually finishing 3 other Lauren Weisberger books in between, in preference for a light read). The book's subject is immensely interesting - the life of an interracial sisterhood in San Fransisco, intercepted with a 19th century drama in Chiangmian, during the Taiping rebellion of 1851-1864. The writing style was a little to dry for my personal taste, and read a little like a historical autobiography (which, technically, it was). Or maybe I just wasn't invested in the lack of compassion of the title character, Olivia. Olivia is the first person who recounts the tales of her sister Chinese Kwan, who has 'yin' eyes, the ability to see, converse with the dead. Kwan also believes in past lives, and the book is a layered narrative between their past and present accounts. A Hundred Secret Senses is referring to the ability to fully utilise your senses to be in tune with other existences. Upon completion I skimmed through reviews and found so many scholarly articles about the book's philosophies on yin and yang. My favourite summary of the themes can be found here:  Banzi Zhang: Reading Amy Tan's Hologram