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Title: Past and present lives, connected by yin eyes
Review: In The Hundred Secret Senses, the author delves into the realm of magic realism, explores the theme of reincarnation, and creates a wonderfully amicable character in Kwan. The best part of the novel is its humor--Kwan's struggle with the English language and her innocent nagging of her American-born sister Olivia. Her telling of the Christian missionaries' story and her connection to them in a past life turns out to be a focal part of the novel, but I eventually dreaded reading these sometimes boring accounts. I didn't enjoy Secret Senses as much as Tam's other novels (especially Kitchen God's Wife), but overall it was an interesting read. The author doesn't utilize magic realism quite as effectively as Garcia Marquez or Allende, but still creates a convincing spiritual connection between the generations.
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