THE TEA GIRL OF HUMMINGBIRD LANE
by Lisa See
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane will transport you to another place and time. The novel opens in a remote, tiny village in a mountainous part of China, where extended families live in community with their neighbors, all of whom pick, dry and sell tea just as their ancestors did. Li-yan, our adolescent main character, introduces us to her people’s way of life – their customs, rituals and beliefs.
Everything is fairly peaceful until a Jeep pulls up to the little village and a foreign man and his son emerge and introduce themselves. As time goes by, the foreigners insinuate themselves into the village – most importantly by instructing the villagers on a new way to pick and dry tea. Li-yan, one of a handful of girls in the village with an education, is enlisted as interpreter, and becomes an integral part of the changes brought into the village.
When Li-yan finds herself pregnant out of wedlock and unwilling to follow her tribe’s practice of infanticide, she manages to secret the child to an orphanage and abandons her on the doorstep. Li-yan eventually leaves her village, pursues a higher education, and becomes a successful businesswoman – but always with a deep yearning for the daughter she gave up. Meanwhile, the daughter is adopted by a couple in California and See develops a compelling story of what it feels like to be the Chinese daughter of Caucasian parents growing up in California.
See’s many descriptions of the small mountain town in China and the tribe who lives there read like a fascinating anthropological study. Likewise, See is a masterful storyteller. From Li-yan’s struggle to break away from tradition and become a businesswoman, to the poignant account of her search for her lost daughter, this book will hold you spellbound. I highly recommend it. (Liz)
