A Hundred Flowers [B2065]

2012 PB in nice clean condition. 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 Y ing'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.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "In her signature beautiful and easy flowing prose Tsukiyama uses the backdrop of a beloved country under an intellectually-repressive regime to allow the reader a look into the past in order to learn more about themselves and how it can relate to us today. With a strong belief in the power of historical fiction to engage readers with new ideas and places, Tsukiyama leads her readers to countries beyond their own, in hopes of finding a greater understanding of ourselves as a human race."; "I have been a fan of Gail Tsukiyama for a very long time. Her ability to develop characters with depth and heart, and to weave together lives and storylines like a tapestry of art makes her a truly masterful storyteller. A Hundred Flowers, where an ordinary family faces extraordinary circumstances, finding their strength and purpose somewhere in between, and fighting hard to make it out together on the other side - is no different."; "A beautiful and moving story. Between the historical depth and the richly developed characters, I couldn't put it down. Absolutely perfect!"; "A deceptively simple and straightforward narrative that houses a reminder for us all. Hope is there even if you can't see it."