The Woman Who Breathed Two Worlds

The Malayan saga

By: Selina Siak Chin Yoke

Narrated by: Christine Rendel

Length: 17 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

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.

Absolutely beautiful story

I sincerely enjoyed this book. the narration was perfect. beautiful story for all ages!!! .......

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

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.

jumps out

it's about the struggle of the mother but also of the children. everyone has a magic sword!

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.

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.

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 👌

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.

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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.