Good Reads / Community Library Notes
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane
Lisa See
Review by Priscilla Comen
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane
Lisa See
Review by Priscilla Comen
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, by Lisa See, is the tale of Li-Yan and her family who live in a small village in China where ancient customs and superstitions are important. It is also about the strong bonds between mothers and daughters.
When twins are born to a married couple, the babies must be killed and the couple must leave the village. Li-Yan is in love with San-Pa and has intercourse with him before they are married. When she gets pregnant, she knows she must kill her baby girl. But her mother, A-ma, is so filled with love for the baby, she tells Li-Yan to take her to an orphanage in a city far away. Li-Yan walks there for many days and leaves the baby in a box by the front door. She later learns the baby has been adopted by a kind American couple and lives in America. Li-Yan and San Pa have married and fled to Thailand where no one will know of their sins. San Pa becomes addicted to heroin and Li-Yan leaves him.
She flees through the jungle. .She is attacked by a tiger. San Pa has followed her, shoots the tiger with his bow and arrow, saving Li-Yan’s life. San Pa dies from his wounds. Li-Yan goes home and learns that Teacher Zhang has arranged for her to go to trade school. Author See shows us what has happened to the baby., now grown and named Haley, and cured of all the infections she had acquired in the orphanage. Author See describes the process of adoption in detail and accurately.
Li-Yan leaves her sadness and loneliness behind. At school, Tea Master Sun has opened her eyes, heart, and soul. The cultivation of their rare tea has enriched her family at home. Her brothers have electricity and wealth. See describes making tea as if it’s a main character in her story. And it is. She shows us how people survive and, through letters and school essays, how Haley, the Chinese adoptee, also survives.
When Haley is older, she goes to China to find her birth mother. She puts posters up everywhere. Will she find her? What will the future hold for her? Will she marry, stay in China, or return to America? Find this fascinating story on the new fiction shelf of your Mendocino Community Library.
When twins are born to a married couple, the babies must be killed and the couple must leave the village. Li-Yan is in love with San-Pa and has intercourse with him before they are married. When she gets pregnant, she knows she must kill her baby girl. But her mother, A-ma, is so filled with love for the baby, she tells Li-Yan to take her to an orphanage in a city far away. Li-Yan walks there for many days and leaves the baby in a box by the front door. She later learns the baby has been adopted by a kind American couple and lives in America. Li-Yan and San Pa have married and fled to Thailand where no one will know of their sins. San Pa becomes addicted to heroin and Li-Yan leaves him.
She flees through the jungle. .She is attacked by a tiger. San Pa has followed her, shoots the tiger with his bow and arrow, saving Li-Yan’s life. San Pa dies from his wounds. Li-Yan goes home and learns that Teacher Zhang has arranged for her to go to trade school. Author See shows us what has happened to the baby., now grown and named Haley, and cured of all the infections she had acquired in the orphanage. Author See describes the process of adoption in detail and accurately.
Li-Yan leaves her sadness and loneliness behind. At school, Tea Master Sun has opened her eyes, heart, and soul. The cultivation of their rare tea has enriched her family at home. Her brothers have electricity and wealth. See describes making tea as if it’s a main character in her story. And it is. She shows us how people survive and, through letters and school essays, how Haley, the Chinese adoptee, also survives.
When Haley is older, she goes to China to find her birth mother. She puts posters up everywhere. Will she find her? What will the future hold for her? Will she marry, stay in China, or return to America? Find this fascinating story on the new fiction shelf of your Mendocino Community Library.