The Woman Who Breathed Two Worlds
The Malayan saga
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Narrated by:
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Christine Rendel
About this listen
Facing challenges in an increasingly colonial world, Chye Hoon, a rebellious young girl, must learn to embrace her mixed Malayan-Chinese identity as a Nyonya - and her destiny as a cook, rather than following her first dream of attending school like her brother.
Amidst the smells of chillies and garlic frying, Chye Hoon begins to appreciate the richness of her traditions, eventually marrying Wong Peng Choon, a Chinese man. Together, they have ten children. At last, she can pass on the stories she has heard - magical tales of men from the sea - and her warrior's courage, along with her wonderful kueh (cakes).
But the cultural shift towards the West has begun. Chye Hoon finds herself afraid of losing the heritage she so prizes as her children move more and more into the modernising Western world.
©2016 Selina Siak Chin Yoke. (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...
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By: Gloria Whelan
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The Bastard of Istanbul
- By: Elif Shafak
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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In her second novel written in English, Elif Shafak confronts her country's violent past in a vivid and colorful tale set in both Turkey and the United States. At its center is the "bastard" of the title, Asya, a 19-year-old woman who loves Johnny Cash and the French Existentialists, and the four sisters of the Kazanci family who all live together in an extended household in Istanbul.
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A tender gift from far away
- By Barbara on 11-07-07
By: Elif Shafak
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Three Souls
- A Novel
- By: Janie Chang
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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We have three souls, or so I'd been told. But only in death could I confirm this.... So begins the haunting and captivating tale, set in 1935 China, of the ghost of a young woman named Leiyin, who watches her own funeral from above and wonders why she is being denied entry to the afterlife. Beside her are three souls - stern and scholarly yang; impulsive, romantic yin; and wise, shining hun - who will guide her toward understanding. She must, they tell her, make amends.
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Very different but compelling point of view.
- By Kevin Wickline on 06-08-23
By: Janie Chang
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The Blue Between Sky and Water
- By: Susan Abulhawa
- Narrated by: Jennifer Woodward
- Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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It is 1947, and Beit Daras, a quiet village in Palestine surrounded by olive groves, is home to the Baraka family. Eldest daughter Nazmiyeh looks after her widowed mother, prone to wandering and strange outbursts, while her brother, Mamdouh, tends to the village bees. Their younger sister, Mariam, with her striking mismatched eyes, spends her days talking to imaginary friends and writing.
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Horrible pronunciation
- By Debra Sabah Press on 11-08-18
By: Susan Abulhawa
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The Island
- By: Victoria Hislop
- Narrated by: Emma Powell
- Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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On the brink of a life-changing decision, Alexis Fielding plans a trip to her mother's childhood home in Plaka, Greece hoping to unravel Sofia's hidden past. Given a letter to take to Sofia's old friend, Fotini, Alexis is promised that through Fotini, she will learn more. Arriving in Plaka, Alexis is astonished to see that it lies a stone's throw from the deserted island of Spinalonga—Greece's former leper colony. Fotini reveals the story that Sofia has buried all her life: the tale of her great-grandmother Eleni and her daughters, and a family rent by tragedy, war, and passion.
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Will listen to it again someday
- By RN on 01-07-23
By: Victoria Hislop
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Mosaic
- By: Diane Armstrong
- Narrated by: Deidre Rubenstein
- Length: 19 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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>i>Mosaic is compelling storytelling at its best - from the fascinating details of Polish-Jewish culture and the rivalries and dramas of family life, to its moving account of lives torn apart by war and persecution, this an extraordinary true story of a family, and of one woman's journey to reclaim her heritage.
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Absolutely excellent!
- By Roberta on 09-22-11
By: Diane Armstrong
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The Vagrants
- By: Yiyun Li
- Narrated by: Jackie Chung
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Yiyun Li is the winner of the prestigious Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award. The Vagrants, set in 1979 China, is the story of those affected by the execution of a 28-year-old counterrevolutionary. Though suffering, Li's characters nevertheless struggle to maintain hope amid cruel circumstance.
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Lovely prose, good story, deadly narration
- By Athene on 05-10-13
By: Yiyun Li
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Half a Lifelong Romance
- A Novel
- By: Eileen Chang
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 15 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Manzhen is a young worker in a Shanghai factory where she meets Shijun, the son of wealthy merchants. Despite family complications, they fall in love and begin to dream of a shared life together - until circumstances force them apart. When they are reunited after many years, can they start their relationship again? Or is it destined to be the romance of only half a lifetime?
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super
- By Marcus Aurelius on 10-05-17
By: Eileen Chang
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Before We Visit the Goddess
- By: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan, Priya Ayyar, Vikas Adam
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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The daughter of a poor baker in rural Bengal, India, Sabitri yearns to get an education, but her family's situation means college is an impossible dream. Then an influential woman from Kolkata takes Sabitri under her wing, but her generosity soon proves dangerous after the girl makes a single unforgivable misstep. Years later, Sabitri's own daughter, Bela, haunted by her mother's choices, flees abroad with her political refugee lover - but the America she finds is vastly different from the country she'd imagined.
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Absolutely Worth a Credit
- By Texastanya on 08-27-16
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Diamond Head
- A Novel
- By: Cecily Wong
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu, Samantha Chen, Angela Lin, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Told through the eyes of the Leongs' secret-keeping daughters and wives and spanning the Boxer Rebellion to Pearl Harbor to 1960s Hawaii, Diamond Head is a breathtakingly powerful tale of tragic love, shocking lies, poignant compromise, aching loss, heroic acts of sacrifice, and miraculous hope.
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.
- By Gina on 09-06-15
By: Cecily Wong
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The Art of Hearing Heartbeats
- A Novel
- By: Jan-Philipp Sendker
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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When a successful New York lawyer suddenly disappears without a trace, neither his wife nor his daughter Julia has any idea where he might be - until they find a love letter he wrote many years ago to a Burmese woman they have never heard of. Intent on solving the mystery and coming to terms with her father’s past, Julia decides to travel to the village where the woman lived. There she uncovers a tale of unimaginable hardship, resilience, and passion that will reaffirm the listener’s belief in the power of love to move mountains.
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Basic Story Interesting, But...
- By Monica on 06-04-13
What listeners say about The Woman Who Breathed Two Worlds
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Boo
- 01-07-17
Loved It
I have no idea what the authentic accents could/would/should sound like. All I know is that the story, facilitated by excellent narration with a beautiful kaleidoscope of accents exotic and wonderful transported me completely into this story, into this world.
I highly recommend it.
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- countrylife
- 01-13-17
Absolutely beautiful story
I sincerely enjoyed this book. the narration was perfect. beautiful story for all ages!!! .......
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- Mike B
- 07-12-17
this story was captivating
The story was captivating for reasons I still haven't figured out. I was drawn into the story and found myself Wanting to hear About the challenges joys and experiences of the characters lives .I'm a person who typically reads science fiction and on rare occasions biographies, and historical nonfiction. I enjoyed this book very much
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- J. Reimer
- 07-12-17
Wonderfully told; perfectly narrated!
Performance is perfect. Narrator does unique voices for all characters. Even main characters voice changes over length of narrative as they "get older." If you have interest or experience in Malaysia and Chinese culture in that part of the world you will live this story!
The only reason story is not rated 5 is because it lacks clear singular crisis. Of course this is more realistic as it covers the life of a Chinese matriarch. Wonderfully told; perfectly narrated.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Mollie
- 12-31-16
Good, not great
Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
Mixed bag.
I really, really, really disliked Chye Hoon's oldest son. She spent so much time bailing him out of trouble, and for what? He was such an unappreciative little chit. I don't often take such a dislike to a character, but he was just awful, and a lot of the story, especially the end, revolves around this mother-son relationship. I couldn't wait to get done in order to rid myself of this ungrateful son.
If you’ve listened to books by Selina Siak Chin Yoke before, how does this one compare?
First one
What about Christine Rendel’s performance did you like?
She did a good job with the voices of the different characters.
Did The Woman Who Breathed Two Worlds inspire you to do anything?
Make sure my only son is not a complete brat! Perhaps learn more about Malaysian culture.
Any additional comments?
I wanted to like this book, and I did at first, but it was slow and tedious at the end. I was glad to be done with it.
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- Sandi Matzelle
- 10-12-18
loved the story every word took me to a new world.
loved the story every word transported me to a new world. I was disappointed when it was over.I wanted more.
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- julian ng
- 01-01-21
jumps out
it's about the struggle of the mother but also of the children. everyone has a magic sword!
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- Fesco
- 05-14-20
thoroughly enjoyed
I'm so glad I had this thru audible. the narrator brought me directly into the story in a way I dont think could with just reading it. the voice inflections and accent brought this novel to another level...I was in tears several times...and Im so sad it was over. I wish I could taste the Nonia quay and all the food described 😊 a wonderful book! I even listened while on my runs ... made me forget about running pains as I kept listening chapter after chapter. I highly recommend 👌
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- #EmptyNestReader
- 07-29-19
Malaysian woman in 1800s
The story follows the main character Chye Hoon, a woman of mixed Malayan-Chinese heritage (known as Nyonya) from childhood (born in the late1800s), through marriage, motherhood (10 children) and into old age. Its focus is everyday life of Malaysian women and families. Through Chye we learn her heritage, customs and beliefs and how they conflict with the western culture that has come to her country. Her deepest desire is to teach her children their cultural heritage but they resist as they want to be “modern”.
The book is slow moving, repetitive and much too long for the content. The day-to-day life story telling is, at times, interesting, but not especially exciting. The book is 476 pages and would have been a much more enjoyable story had it been about 300 pages long. There are a lot of characters in this book and I found it very difficult to keep them all straight. I did enjoy learning the historical aspect of the Malayan-Chinese culture, particularly as the “white devil” takes over more and more of her country. “Her ancestors would fight for her spirit, but so too would the white devils who had come to rule. They had taken first our land and then our souls.”
The Woman Who Breathed Two Worlds is apparently book 1 of a 2 book family saga.
For more of my book reviews follow me on Instagram at #emptynestreader and on Goodreads.
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- Amazon Customer
- 08-01-18
I felt like I was right there!
What a wonderful story rich in culture. I felt as if I had traveled abroad and visited the family in person.
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