The novel revolves around a quirky socialite and art dealer named Bibi Chen and a group of her well-to-do friends who are planning a holiday time trip to China and Myanmar. After making the arrangements for their adventure and designating herself as tour guide, Bibi dies unexpectedly and mysteriously. Brand new to the afterlife, she still goes along with the group, trying to figure out how to navigate her new existence along the way. Despite Bibi’s sudden passing, her friends go forward with the vacation, justifying it by asserting that Bibi would’ve wanted them to forge ahead. Tan’s use of Bibi as a wacky, unreliable storyteller is pure fun. What follows is a winding, complex comedy of errors that culminates with the group disappearing into a jungle on Christmas Day.
![]() |
Amy Tan |
Though this isn’t a quick read (it has 474 pages), the commentary from Bibi Chen throughout amps up the adventure. Sometimes sarcastic and always opinionated, Bibi gives us glimpses into the characters' faults, attributes and frailties. It’s through these insights from Bibi that characters who seem a little bit cloying on the surface are given more depth, and we can even empathize. While much of the novel is somewhat light-hearted and funny, political commentary, misunderstandings (and just plain ignorance) of other cultures and beliefs also play a large part in the storyline. There were a few characters that I would have liked to have seen expanded on even more, and some reactions from the characters that seemed rather unrealistic considering the circumstances. All in all though, this novel maintained a perfect record: there hasn't yet been a book from Amy Tan that I haven't enjoyed.