From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa See, “one of those special writers capable of delivering both poetry and plot” (The New York Times Book Review), a moving novel about tradition, tea farming, and the bonds between mothers and daughters.In their remote mountain village, Li-yan and her family align their lives around the seasons and the farming of tea. For the Akha people, ensconced in … For the Akha people, ensconced in ritual and routine, life goes on as it has for generations—until a stranger appears at the village gate in a jeep, the first automobile any of the villagers has ever seen.
The stranger’s arrival marks the first entrance of the modern world in the lives of the Akha people. Slowly, Li-yan, one of the few educated girls on her mountain, begins to reject the customs that shaped her early life. When she has a baby out of wedlock—conceived with a man her parents consider a poor choice—she rejects the tradition that would compel her to give the child over to be killed, and instead leaves her, wrapped in a blanket with a tea cake tucked in its folds, near an orphanage in a nearby city.
As Li-yan comes into herself, leaving her insular village for an education, a business, and city life, her daughter, Haley, is raised in California by loving adoptive parents. Despite her privileged childhood, Haley wonders about her origins. Across the ocean Li-yan longs for her lost daughter. Over the course of years, each searches for meaning in the study of Pu’er, the tea that has shaped their family’s destiny for centuries.
A powerful story about circumstances, culture, and distance, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane paints an unforgettable portrait of a little known region and its people and celebrates the bond of family.
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Full of life metaphors, heartbreak, and hope, this stunning book centers on a remote ethnic minority and their unwavering beliefs that are both beautiful and deeply punitive. Culture, love, life, death, adoption, tribal evolution, and tea. So many elements are entwined in this story that grows in every way. I am a different person after reading this book. Perspective and the opportunity to learn are such generous gifts. Thank you, Lisa See.
Once again Lisa See takes us to China of the past and brings us to China and the United States of the present. See’s story brings you in slowly so that you may meet and digest each character until you are part of her story. The book begins with Li-yan, living in a remote country village that grows tea. Life is hard for Li-yan as she slowly matures from a skinny girl who goes to bed hungry to young woman whose hunger for an education changes her life. The superstitions of her village and the first time helping her mother midwife in a delivery are catalysts that will help her on her future journeys. The history of tea picking, choosing the right tea leaves, drinking tea and selling the converted product is covered in a way that entwines the steps into the story of Li-yan. The ups and downs of Li-yan are covered in multiple year chapters which make this book an excellent read.
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane follows the life of Li-yan, a member of the Akha hill tribe whose way of life is still tied to the land. Growing up picking tea leaves each season with her family and living without electricity or running water in a hut made on bamboo stilts, Li-yan’s life is a far cry from the modern world of the late 1980’s. Set to follow in her mother’s path as a midwife, Li-yan struggles to accept her path and works hard in school hoping to be the first in her village to qualify for upper level schooling that would open up other possibilities. Fate however intervenes through two different men destined to change her life, one through love, the other through the business of tea, helping her village join the modern world. Years later, across the globe, a young Chinese girl adopted by Americans wonders at her roots and the special tea cake that was wrapped in her blankets when she was left at the orphanage. Who was her mother and what is the significance of this tea cake?
Full disclaimer, I am a huge fan of Lisa See’s works so I was inclined to like this book from the start, however I can truly say this is my favorite of all her books so far. See seems to flex her writing muscles in the vivid descriptions of the lush environment of the Akha tribe, its dangers and simpler way of life. The reader is fully immersed in the beauty and culture of Li-yan’s world, experiencing her inner turmoil fighting her lot in life and then the culture shock she experiences later in the city. As with all of See’s stories, there is a bittersweet quality to Li-yan’s story and the highs are magnified and all the more precious because of the lows. I enjoyed the surprising treat of a love story that developed from this and the way the characters bonded through their losses. See writes with a depth of character and setting that allows the reader to truly inhabit the story and, like the huigan or returning flavor of the teas in this book, the story is one to be savored long after it ends.
The novel begins with Li-Yan as a young girl living with her family in the remote mountain area of China in 1988. Tea and the farming of it are an important part of all of the people in their village. Li-Yan’s people live a simple life, in that they don’t have any modern conveniences such as electricity and vehicles. But they live by their own long standing rules, the traditions and customs of their culture. When the story begins, Li-Yan is just a girl enjoying time with her friend and her family. But soon she will witness someone giving birth and later she will have her own baby but under circumstances that she never imagined. She manages to leave her baby somewhere where it will have a chance to be adopted. Li-Yan experiences unthinkable things and is heartbroken. But her story and the whole story that surrounds her is so moving and so beautifully written.
I’ve loved every Lisa See book I’ve read, and this was no exception. A fascinating look into the development of the tea trade in China and how it became a mass industry around the world. Li-Yan is a complex character and you’ll follow her journey from a remote mountain village to how she becomes and independent woman with secrets of her own.
Beautifully written and thought-provoking. You are literally submerged in a world an impoverished Chinese village–and the mesmerizing world of tea. Extremely informative too!
Lisa See is one of my favorite authors and this book did not disappoint.
The haunting and fascinating story of a young woman’s exceptional journey from the tightly bound culture of rural China in the 1980s into the modernity of today’s Chinese cities. Beautifully and achingly descriptive of her family, the mountain-bound community, and the rites and traditions of this highly traditional community and the tea making process. You will laugh, cry, and yearn deeply for Li-yan, the story’s heroine. When I was finished, I still wanted to know more about the real-life Akha – the ethnic Chinese minority group to which Li-yan belonged. I was also drawn to the tragedy and heartache caused by China’s one-child policy and the lingering effects of loss for both mothers and children who were directly impacted.
Couldn’t put down this book. So many elements drew me right in and kept me there: tea, ethnic minorities, the complications of Chinese-American adoptees, the settings. This is my fave by this author so far. Fortunately, I have more left to read by her!
Not as good as her others
Interesting
I learned a lot in this story about the farming of tea and the customs in this remote mountain village in China. Some of it was hard to read about. Beyond that the story kind of got lost on me. I did love how it came full circle in the end – kind of.
She is one of my favorite writers! Love her books
Lisa See is hands down one of my favourite authors. Everything she writes is original, interesting, and leaves me with something to think about. This book was consistent with her high standards and I found the characters and their stories to be engaging. Looking forward to her next books.
My favorite of all her books. More of a romantic novel than Lise See’s “detective” books, which I also loved, but not in the normal sense. A good book for those interested in family dynamics and finding your roots and the struggle between transitioning to a new culture.
I love everything by this author. Never disappointed.
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See. I loved the rich prose and the descriptions of the countryside —the deep explanations of the lowest ethnic caste that our MC is born to and rises above. Lisa See paints a beautiful picture of ancient customs practiced by families in the isolated forests of China. the reader is propelled along with the MC as she strives for a modern approach to life, while still clinging to her past. A very moving portrayal of coming to age, cultural upheaval, death, life and always,always tea. I appreciate books that teach me new things, as well as touch my emotions. This thought provoking book will stay with you for a long time.
Loved the story and actually learned so much. I am a lover of tea and now every time I have a cup I think of how it came to be.
I just love to immerse myself in the books written by Lisa See.
Maybe 3.5 stars. Lisa See references an old Chinese aphorism in her final acknowledgements – No coincidence, no story. This turns out to be the key to much of her new novel, which follows the story of two women. The more minor one is of Haley Davis, an abandoned Chinese girl happily adopted by two childless scientists living in California. Haley is the tea girl of Hummingbird Lane of the book’s title. From her story, there is a lot to understand about the difficulties faced by the thousands of “grateful but angry” Chinese adoptees currently living in the United States. Theirs are complicated feelings that shift throughout their lives.
Most of the book however, centers on Li-yan. She is the Chinese mother who abandoned her daughter, in part, to take advantage of the widening opportunities for women in a rapidly expanding Chinese economy. Both mother and daughter long to meet each other, though for very different reasons.
This was not my favorite Lisa See novel, though I’ve read a number of them. This one felt a bit clunkier. See moves back and forth between the two stories but it felt to me that parts of Haley’s story were more “stuck in,” in an almost random fashion. Luckily I found Li-yan’s story the more interesting one since hers involves the shifting culture of the Chinese countryside as it moves from widespread isolation and ancient superstitions toward wider integration with the “advances” brought by Communism and entrepreneurship.
There is also a lot of detail about the study and science of tea-making included within this novel, perhaps a bit too much for my taste (no pun intended). It certainly lent authenticity but I personally prefer reading about characters.