A Hundred Flowers by Gail Tsukiyama Book Review
My mom loved reading about different cultures around the world. As a family we were able to live and visit many different countries and learn about the country and it’s culture. The love of that learning carried over with mom till she passed away. Today I want to share a book with you that brings a beautiful story of a family in China during the late 1950’s when Chairman Mao and the party where making large changes in that country. As I was listening to this book, I kept thinking about my own family and the blessings that we have embraced because we were born into a free country. I know my mother would have loved this book and I think you will too.
A HUNDRED FLOWERS
Written by Gail Tsukiyama, Read by Simon Vance
Unabridged | ISBN-13: 978-1-4272-2249-7| 6 CDs | 7.5 hours | $29.99
On Sale 8/7/2012
Published simultaneously with the print edition from St.Martin’s Pressr
A powerful new novel about an ordinary family facing extraordinary times at the start of the Chinese Cultural Revolution.
China, 1957. Chairman Mao has declared a new openness in society: “Let a hundred flowers bloom; let a hundred schools of thought contend.” Many intellectuals fear it is only a trick, and Kai Ying’s husband, Sheng, a teacher, has promised not to jeopardize their safety or that of their young son, Tao. But one July morning, just before his sixth birthday, Tao watches helplessly as Sheng is dragged away for writing a letter criticizing the Communist Party and sent to a labor camp for “reeducation.”
A year later, still missing his father desperately, Tao climbs to the top of the hundred-year-old kapok tree in front of their home, wanting to see the mountain peaks in the distance. But Tao slips and tumbles thirty feet to the courtyard below, badly breaking his leg.
As Kai Ying struggles to hold her small family together in the face of this shattering reminder of her husband’s absence, other members of the household must face their own guilty secrets and strive to find peace in a world where the old sense of order is falling. Once again, Tsukiyama brings us a powerfully moving story of ordinary people facing extraordinary circumstances with grace and courage.
Read by Simon Vance, winner of the 2012 Audie Award for best male narrator and four AudioFile awards, the audio book also includes a bonus conversation with the author and her editor.
My Thoughts:
There are so many cultures in the world where family is first and foremost and the story that the author, Gail Tsukiyama crafts in this book is set in a household during a 5 month span. It focuses on the trials and tribulations of the changing political atmosphere of their country. Who do you trust and can you trust the government when it asks for your opinion on how to make China a better country? For over a year the people did not respond, but then people got bolder and wrote letters and spoke out, ending in arrests and re-eduction.
The story deals with one close family and how they deal with the day to day struggle when the husband, Sheng, is accused of writing a letter against the party and is arrested and sent to a camp for re-education. Thankfully the family lives in the home with Sheng’s father and he is a strong support for them but he has his faults and issues he must deal with. Their young son, Tao, goes through many changes and he learns to that growing up is difficult. The wife, Kai Ying, a herbalist by trade, must care for her son, her father-in-law, the home and others as well as earn a living to support the family too.
One Hundred Flowers will take you on a journey through this close knit family’s fears, secrets, and history for a glimpse into the bustling world of an emerging China. Can they make it through without their husband and son and will he ever be allowed to come home? Will this family be changed forever for the better or worse because of this?
Grab a copy of this descriptive and interesting book. The author writes a beautiful, detailed story that will take you on a tour of the country and culture and into the lives of a traditional family. You will enjoy sitting down with this story as it wraps it’s arms around you and allows you to be thankful we live in today’s world and in a free society.
Disclaimer: Chris has personally reviewed the product listed above. She has not received any monetary compensation for her review but did receive a free product to try out so she could evaluate and use it for her review. Her thoughts & opinions in this review are unbiased & honest and your opinions may differ.