In many ways,

(1995) is a very different novel to those that preceded it, not least because it failed to achieve the critical acclaim and attention of Amy Tan's highly successful

and

. What also distinguishes Tan's third novel is its focus on a different intercultural relationship between two half sisters, the American-born Olivia Yee and the Chinese-born Kwan Li, along with its representation of a different history and a different reality: mid-nineteenth century China and the “World of Yin” (p. 3). These differences mark something of a departure from the matrilineal narrative, and with this departure comes a realistic and, at times, semi-autobiographical rendering of historical experiences specific to the twentieth…

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Citation: Adams, Bella. "The Hundred Secret Senses". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 January 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=542, accessed 04 December 2024.]