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Women of the Silk A Novel Gail Tsukiyama 9780312099435 Books

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Women of the Silk A Novel Gail Tsukiyama 9780312099435 Books

This was a good story and Gail Tsukiyama writes well. However it left me a little disappointed. It was a rather quite story, not a lot of action. The families of young Chinese girls sold them into the silk factories
so they could earn and send money home. Pei was such a child and she made a life for herself. Most of this book is about these young girls and their life working and living together. The girls became family to each other. The girls in this story lived a happy life in a home for girls. There was a sweet "housemother" who loved and cared for them. I found this hard to believe. This is where this book lost me Also I felt the author ended this book to lay the groundwork for Pei to live again in another book.


Tags : Women of the Silk: A Novel [Gail Tsukiyama] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. In Women of the Silk</i> Gail Tsukiyama takes her readers back to rural China in 1926, where a group of women forge a sisterhood amidst the reeling machines that reverberate and clamor in a vast silk factory from dawn to dusk. Leading the first strike the village has ever seen,Gail Tsukiyama,Women of the Silk: A Novel,St. Martin's Griffin,0312099436,Historical - General,China,Women silk industry workers,Reading Group Guide,American First Novelists,China - Fiction,Country life - Fiction,FICTION General,FICTION Historical General,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction Historical,General,Historical,Historical fiction,Modern fiction,Women silk industry workers - Fiction,General & Literary Fiction,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

Women of the Silk A Novel Gail Tsukiyama 9780312099435 Books Reviews

Women of the Silk was an entrancing novel. I had a hard time putting it down even for a moment, completing it in one day. Pei's story is both sad and sweet. She always moves forward, never getting lost in a victim mentality, no matter the hardships. And all at such a young age. I am looking forward to reading the next in the series, The Language of Threads, to follow Pei as she makes new discoveries of the world beyond.

The writing style is fluid. Pei and her friends are all interesting and have depth of character, that is very well plumbed. The intertwining of their lives is done flawlessly. There are many poignant moments that tug at the heartstrings. The strength of these young girls and women is inspiring.

This is a great book for teens. They will learn about the social culture of China in the early to mid 1900s and experience what one can make of their life, no matter the difficulties, if they maintain a positive attitude and stick to their personal convictions, achieving an inner peace.

I intend to purchase a copy of both Women of Silk and The Language of Threads for my niece's birthday - she will be turning 15.
Women of the Silk, was the debut novel written by Gail Tsukiyama first published in 1991. Ms. Tsukiyama is a new to me author.

Pei is one of the several Chinese daughters born to a poverty stricken fish farm family, dominated the father. She is the outgoing, and curious child, and according to the fortune teller that her father takes her to, she is the "non marrying" type. When another girl is born to the family (who dies soon after), Pei's father decides her fate. He arranges to sell her to a motherly sort of woman called Auntie Yee who runs a home for silk workers.By doing this Pei's family will get paid for her work in the factory.

Initially Pei is hysterical when she realizes that she has been left at this strange place by her father. Before long she adjusts to her new life and actually begins to thrive. Pei finds that she is treated with kindness, and she forms a special bond with another girl named Lin. Pei and the other girls live together, work together, earning money for their families, and form strong bonds accepting the fact that they will never marry, but instead will retire to spinsterhood at the age of 40.

The effects of war with Japan eventually touch the lives of everyone, and there are some tragedies which occur as this book covers a 20 year time span.

The author does a wonderful job with this coming of age story. The character of Pei was extremely well developed. I could feel the bond between the girls, and I could also feel the emotional pain suffered by Pei. It was also interesting to learn about the silk process, and about China between 1919 and 1938. I plan to read more books by this author.
Sometimes it's the novels about the simpliest of things that can really strike at me. This slim book from author Gail Tsukiyama takes the reader into the China before the Japanese invasion of WWII and the rise of Communism, into a world of women that most of us living in the West could not hope to fathom.

Pei is a curious child, always asking her parents questions, unlike her quieter sister Li. Her earliest memories are those of her mother suffering in childbirth, giving birth to another daughter, and only to watch the infant die later. It's a hard life for her family, tending to fish ponds and a grove of mulberry trees, and some years there is little to sell. With all of the backbreaking labour, there is not very much energy left for a small girl who asks too many questions. After a fortune-teller tells the family that it will be Pei who will bring much happiness, her parents decide to send her away.

Pei isn't very old, not much more than five or six when her father takes her to the town of Yung Kee and the house of Auntie Yee. Auntie Yee lives in a house filled with girls and helped by the rather dour Moi, where all of the children dress in white clothing and work together in a vast silk factory. What Pei doesn't know is that the money that she earns will pay for her room and board, and be sent back home to help her family survive.

At first there is loneliness and heartache as Pei hears nothing more from her family, and learning the work of sorting, boiling and spinning silk comes easily to her. But she is able to make friends, especially with the slightly older Lin, a young woman from a prosperous family fallen on hard times in nearby Canton. Lin and Pei form a steadfast friendship, one that endures through death and changes as China starts to fall towards war with the Japanese.

Written in a rather simple style that gradually matures as Pei grows up, this is a beautiful little novel of the hidden lives of women. Gail Tsukiyama shows change and sometimes shifts the story to the people around Pei, revealling heartache and hardship that may be difficult for most of us living today to grasp. Auntie Yee reveals her own story of loss, Lin faces hatred and rejection from her mother, one girl is seduced and abandoned by a lover. But there are good things as well -- there are the festivals, a grand wedding, and most of all, the friendships that are formed between the women.

What caught my attention the most was the realization that for most children born in the early part of the 20th century and still true today, life isn't one of shooling and play, but rather work that ages them before their time, is dangerous -- many of Pei's co-workers suffer injuries and burns in preparing silk cocoons for weaving -- and nearly always underpaid. It's a sobering thought, but Tsukiyama keeps the prose from becoming preachy or unbearably grim. Instead, she treats things just as they are, and that's where the effectiveness and power of the story lays.

For anyone looking for unique view of China, this is a must read. The characters are sympathetic, the writing flows easily and beautifully, and while there isn't any sort of happy ending -- quite the opposite, it is a novel full of stark beauty.

There is a sequel of sorts, The Language of Threads, which continues Pei's story. I really enjoyed this novel, and intend to find more of Ms. Tsukiyama's work in the future.

Four stars overall, recommended.
This was a good story and Gail Tsukiyama writes well. However it left me a little disappointed. It was a rather quite story, not a lot of action. The families of young Chinese girls sold them into the silk factories
so they could earn and send money home. Pei was such a child and she made a life for herself. Most of this book is about these young girls and their life working and living together. The girls became family to each other. The girls in this story lived a happy life in a home for girls. There was a sweet "housemother" who loved and cared for them. I found this hard to believe. This is where this book lost me Also I felt the author ended this book to lay the groundwork for Pei to live again in another book.