Bookish Thoughts: The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See

"No coincidence, no story," my a-ma recites, and that seems to settle everything, as it usually does, after First Brother finishes telling us about the dream he had last night. ~ Opening of The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See

Scribner, 2017

Fiction; 384 pgs
Source: I received an e-copy of this book in exchange for using the mobile app JellyBooks a try. No review of the book was requested or required.

Goodreads Summary: 

A thrilling new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa See explores the lives of a Chinese mother and her daughter who has been adopted by an American couple. 

Li-yan and her family align their lives around the seasons and the farming of tea. There is ritual and routine, and it has been ever thus for generations. Then one day a jeep appears at the village gate—the first automobile any of them have seen—and a stranger arrives.

In this remote Yunnan village, the stranger finds the rare tea he has been seeking and a reticent Akha people. In her biggest seller, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, See introduced the Yao people to her readers. Here she shares the customs of another Chinese ethnic minority, the Akha, whose world will soon change. Li-yan, one of the few educated girls on her mountain, translates for the stranger and is among the first to reject the rules that have shaped her existence. When she has a baby outside of wedlock, rather than stand by tradition, she wraps her daughter in a blanket, with a tea cake hidden in her swaddling, and abandons her in the nearest city.

After mother and daughter have gone their separate ways, Li-yan slowly emerges from the security and insularity of her village to encounter modern life while Haley grows up a privileged and well-loved California girl. Despite Haley’s happy home life, she wonders about her origins; and Li-yan longs for her lost daughter. They both search for and find answers in the tea that has shaped their family’s destiny for generations.

A powerful story about a family, separated by circumstances, culture, and distance, Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane paints an unforgettable portrait of a little known region and its people and celebrates the bond that connects mothers and daughters.

Lisa See's Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is one of my all-time favorite novels, and I have to say, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane is just as good. Just as powerful. Just as amazing.

This novel introduces readers to the Akha minority in China who live in remote mountain villages, sticking with the old traditions and life, long into the modern era. They are not immune, however, to the growing commercialism and modern technology of the world today. Tradition meets modernization. It is both bitter and sweet. Lisa See captures all of this in her novel as we see the community change through the eyes of Li-yan and her family.

Li-yan's teacher, Zhang, takes an interest in her, as she's proven to have an aptitude for success in school. He is a remnant from the Cultural Revolution years before, forced from the city to a rural area where he has since made his home.

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane is rich in history as well as culture. Although tea is not something I drink often or know much about, I could not help but become more and more curious, reading about the collection of leaves and the fermenting process of tea produced in the Yunnan Province. The growing popularity in Pu'er' tea, not just in China but world-wide puts the province on the map. Author Lisa See weaves these historical tidbits into the novel in such a way as to make them an essential part of the novel, never boring, and always fascinating.

The first part of the novel takes place during Li-yan's childhood. The reader gets a good feel for her life and family, and also about the Akha culture and beliefs. It was in this early part of the novel I came across a scene that broke my heart into tiny pieces. I had to set the book aside for awhile after that. Whenever we hear or read a story, we always carry with us our own values and personal stories. We can try to set them aside or at least be aware of them when reading about another culture, but there are certain practices and beliefs we may still struggle with or come into direct conflict with our own. I found that to be true reading Jesmyn Ward's Salvage the Bones when it came to the dog fighting. Lisa See's book might have found me in the same place (completely different scenario/no dog fighting), but Li-yan's own struggle with it helped with that. In fact, that one incident is what shapes Li-yan's future choices, for better or worse.

The novel follows Li-yan into her adulthood, as she gives birth to a child, makes the painful choice to abandon the child, and later search out the child. It is a heartbreaking story. Li-yan's culture plays a huge part in the initial choice she makes.

In alternating chapters, readers are introduced to Haley, Li-yan's daughter, who is adopted by a white American family. I liked how Lisa See shares Haley's story alongside her mother's, a chance to see some of the cultural struggles Haley faced, not only as an adopted child but also being raised by parents of a different ethnicity. 

This is a beautiful novel that covers a lot of ground. It is well researched and touches on many issues that would make this one perfect for a book club discussion. Lisa See has a gift for creating such real characters and offering us an intimate view into their lives. It is impossible not to become emotionally invested in these characters' lives. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane has so much heart; it is a story about mothers and daughters and the strong bonds of family. It is about tradition as well as progress. And it is about love and fate, as well as being about our choices and their consequences. I loved this book from beginning to end. I hope you will too if you read it.

You can learn more about Lisa See and her books on the author's website. You can also find her on Twitter and Facebook.

---

© 2017, Wendy Runyon of Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.