The Language of Threads: A Novel

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 288 pages
• Published by: St. Martin's Griffin September 21, 2000
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0312267568
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0312267568
• Book Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Weighs: 8.8 ounces

From Publishers Weekly
The unique bond forged between Chinese women who were abandoned by their families and forced into the silk industry at a young age is gorgeously explored in Tsukiyama's (Night of Many Dreams) precisely crafted novel. During the Japanese invasion of Canton in 1938, Pei, a shy 27-year-old whose quiet strength marks her as a survivor, flees the silk factory where she has lived and worked since she was eight years old. She takes with her Ji Shen, an adolescent orphaned when the Japanese took Nanking, whom Pei has pledged to raise. Arriving in Hong Kong, Pei relies on her ties with the silk sisterhood to find housing and a place to work, and also to learn the rules and customs which she must adopt in this new environment. In spare, evocative prose, Tsukiyama paints contrasting pictures of the bustling wealth of Hong Kong and its massive poverty. First assigned to a wealthy Chinese household where she is embroiled in servants' quarrels, Pei finally finds unexpected peace working for "a white devil," a widowed Englishwoman who comes to treat Pei like a daughter. Flashbacks to Pei's early life in the silk factory punctuate the narrative, which skillfully traces 35 yearsAthrough the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong and its aftermath up until 1973Ain Pei's nimbly stalwart existence. Women provide for each other in myriad ways in this world, and the relationships forged between them glow at the heart of Tsukiyama's story. Sisters are reunited, mothers and adopted daughters remain steadfastly loyal, childbirth breeds grief, but affirmation, too, and great friends even return from the dead to console their loved ones in this quiet but powerful effort from a writer who proves once again that she is an very gifted storyteller. Agent, Linda Allen. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
The author of several novels (e.g., Night of Many Dreams), Tsukiyama here offers a sequel to her 1991 work, Women of the Silk, which introduced readers to a young Chinese girl working in a silk factory. It is 1938, and Pei, now 28 years old, has traveled to Hong Kong, where she finds herself working as a domestic servant and caring for a young girl named Ji Shen. Though the novel spans 35 years, it is mostly given to covering the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong and its aftermath through 1952. During those years, readers follow Pei and Ji Shen's struggle to survive fear and hardship, as British and Canadian civilians are interned under Japanese authority and a na?ve Ji Shen finds herself dealing in the black market. As in her other works, Tsukiyama's writing is richly descriptive and filled with historical detail, and her characters are fleshed out. Libraries with Tsukiyama's work will want to add this title, though as a sequel it works well on its own. Recommended for historical fiction and Asian American fiction collections.
-AShirley N. Quan, Orange Cty. P.L., Stanton, CA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reader Reviews
This year I was introduced to the author Gail Tsukiyama when a book group I belong to chose to read The Samurai's Garden. Gulping this book down in a matter of hours and loving every page, I then read her newest book Dreaming Water and Tsukiyama's first book Women of the Silk. Both books were wonderful and now that I have finished the sequel to Women of the Silk, The Language of Threads, I wish I could be reading all of these books for the first time. The Language of Threads picks continues the story of Pei wh we first met in the previous book Women of the Silk. The Language of Threads begins in 1938 Pei at 28 is bound for Hong Kong and the Japanese have begun occupying China. At the age of 8, Pei who was given by her parents to the Sisterhood to become a silk worker. But now the silk factories are all but gone and the other silk workers are scattered around China trying to steer clear of the Japanese. Accompanying Pei on this voyage is Ji Shen, a 14 year-old girl, who after watching her parents and sister killed by the Japanese made her way to the girl's house of the Sisterhood where the silk workers vowed to care for her. When the time comes for Pei to leave the area, she cannot forget the promises made to Ji Shen and makes plans to travel and care for her. Once in Hong Kong, Pei is reunited with other sisters of the silk factory who now work as domestics in grand homes. Pei is immediately employed but learns the hard way that she won't be treated as fairly as before in Hong Kong. When she is accused of stealing from her employer, she is forced to leave her job. But fate steps in and Pei finds herself working for a kindly English woman, Mrs. Finch who also allows Ji Shen to live with them. As the months pass and the Japanese become more and more of a presence, these three women become very important to one another and act towards each other as if they are family members. But once again life turns and when Mrs., Finch is sent to an internment camp for British citizens, Pei must not only find a way to care for herself and Ji Shen but to survive the Japanese takeover of Hong Kong. And when tragedy strikes, once again Pei must make a life for herself and all those she holds dear. The Language of Threads is a wonderful book although at times it is equally heart breaking. We first meet Pei at 28 and when the book finishes she is 62. Her story is well told and like the strands of silk she once handled comes together quite poignantly at the end. And we, as readers rejoice in her life filled with dark days overshadowed by triumph and ultimately joy. Like the characters from Tsukiyama's other books Pei is a well-crafted character who you will think of as a real person and won't soon forget. I really loved both Women of the Silk and The Language of Threads and cannot recommend them enough. Besides offering solid characterizations of the people, I learned about the lives of those young women sent by their families to work in the silk factories and life in Hong Kong during the Japanese takeover of China before and during WWII. Most of all what I will always remember about these two books is the courageous woman who made a worthwhile life for herself and others against all odds.