The Language of Threads: A Novel (Women of the Silk #2) [J0260]

2000 - PB Gift-Worthy condition. Readers of Women of the Silk never forgot the moving, powerful story of Pei, brought to work in the silk house as a girl, grown into a quiet but determined young woman whose life is subject to cruel twists of fate, including the loss of her closest friend, Lin. Now we finally learn what happened to Pei, as she leaves the silk house for Hong Kong in the 1930s, arriving with a young orphan, Ji Shen, in her care. Her first job, in the home of a wealthy family, ends in disgrace, but soon Pei and Ji Shen find a new life in the home of Mrs. Finch, a British ex-patriate who welcomes them as the daughters she never had. Their idyllic life is interrupted, however, by war, and the Japanese occupation. Pei is once again forced to make her own way, struggling to survive and to keep her extended family alive as well. In this story of hardship and survival, Tsukiyama paints a portrait of women fighting the forces of war and time to make a life for themselves.

From recent-ish Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "Beautiful story of friendship, sisterhood, family, love and survival."; "The Language of Threads is a historical fiction story that takes place mainly during WWII in Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation. While it is fiction it does shed some light on the impact World War II on Asian cultures."; "A challenging read, not in its structure but in its strong sense of what reality looked like for women in 1940s Japan. This novel simultaneously breaks and mends your heart with the strong relationships Pei fosters throughout life outside of the silk work - a very realistic beginning of what a new life chapter looks and feels like."