Only one book last month - we went on a camping trip to WI and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and came home with COVID so one 14-hour book was all I could muster. I honestly thought I’d written this days ago. Once again, I’m reminded of how aptly named this blog is. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See is a wonderful story of history, tradition and sacrifice. It follows Li-yan, a young girl belonging to an ethnic minority tribe, the Akha, in the hills of Yunnan province, China. Her family picks tea leaves for a modest living and they expect Li-yan to eventually become a healer like her mother, but Li-yan dreams of attending university. Circumstances thwart that dream and Li-yan has a baby whom she must give up for adoption and due to tradition means she cannot return to her village. The story alternates between Li-yan, her daughter’s adoptive family in the U.S., and eventually her daughter, Haley. Haley’s thoughts on being a Chinese adoptee of white parents is nuanced and profound. I found myself rooting for Li-yan as she experiences the ups and downs of straddling the worlds of new China and the traditions of her roots. The history of tea was very interesting tea - I’ve ordered two kinds of pu-erh, the fermented tea made in Yunnan, to see if the health and beauty benefits are for real.
TBR List
- Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke
- Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal
- The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
- Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris
- The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi
- The Good House by Ann Leary
- White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
- How to Have Impossible Conversations by Boghossian/Lindsay
