During the two-day Yom Tov this week, I took it upon myself to finish reading a book that has been sitting on my coffee table for about a month. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See is a novel about a Chinese woman of an ethnic minority called the Akha. These people are grounded in tradition and many of the things described that they do seem inhumane. Li-Yan, the protagonist, becomes pregnant before marriage and has to give her baby up for adoption. We continue to watch as Li-Yan's daughter grows up a typical American life and Li-yan finding who she is and what her path is in life. The beginning of the book is very slow, I did not get to the thick of the plot until about halfway through the book. This is a good thing and a bad thing.
I was disinterested at the beginning of the book prompting me to leave it to the side and not even think about opening it again. The only reason I decided to read the book was that I legitimately saw no other options to cure my boredom. I am very glad I did pick it up and read it. The plot of the book is rich with well-developed characters and believable connections and interactions between them. While the beginning was boring, it set a foundation for who the characters were, and also gave me - the reader - the feeling that I was growing up with the main character in the book, Li-Yan. This connection that I felt with her made me more proud when she finds love and has a child. Respectively it made me more upset when she has to give up her child to save its life.
For anyone debating on a book to read, I would recommend this book. The beginning is hard to get through, but it eventually leads to a more fulfilling and emotional middle and end. I hope you can find time in your life to read this book
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I just looked into it, actually sounds very good! I feel your pain of boredom specifically during this stretch of Jewish holidays and don't have much to read during that time for now.
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