Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan

Bibi Chen, a purveyor of Asian art in San Francisco, dies right before leaving to take a group of people on a tour of China and Myanmar (Burma). As a recently deceased person, she becomes the omniscient narrator of this wonderful novel, and she watches as the group decides to do the trip without her and nominates someone else as leader. The ghost of Bibi goes along on the trip and chats to the reader about the members of the group and how they fall into the hands of an isolated tribe who believe that one of the members is the "Little White Brother" who has come to save them from persecution by the government. Amy Chen's knowledge of art and insight into the quirks of human nature make Saving Fish from Drowning a great read.