Book Review: The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane

[osprey_archer]

I was quite disappointed with Lisa See’s last book, China Dolls, so I started her newest The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane with some trepidation; but I am happy to report that the book laid all my doubts to rest. It’s lively, fast-paced, deploys its clearly extensive research with a light and masterful hand, and most of all, it does a much better job distinguishing between its various narrators than China Dolls ever did.

Of course it helps that there’s only one main narrator in The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, and the rest of the story is told through documents - emails, official documents, the transcript of a therapy session - but still, coming off a China Dolls it was a relief. (The transcript of the therapy session, a group meeting of several teenage girls who were adopted from China as babies, is one of my favorite parts of the book - both because it showcases this range of voices, and because it provides an organic place to approach international adoptions from all sorts of angles.)

Other features: strong but complicated mother-daughter bonds, a marvelous hidden tea grove, descriptions of pu’er tea so evocative that they made me want to try it (I don’t think I would like pu’er, but it still made me want to try it), and a deus ex machina tiger attack. Because why not?

The book does feature See’s trademark friendship between two women that goes terribly, tragically wrong, which I am getting a bit tired of reading over and over, but this time it’s only a subplot so that was all right. And the destruction of the friendship revolves around a high-stakes disagreement about business ethics, which is actually something I haven’t read before, and therefore refreshing.

Parts of it are a bit rough emotionally (in particular, there’s an infanticide near the beginning), but overall I really enjoyed it. Highly recommended!

Comments

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, I have also grown tired of See's books, but this one sounds really good, so I might give it a try!

I don’t think I would like pu’er, but it still made me want to try it
I like pu-er tea! It tastes very similar to black tea (especially black tea that has a really rich, full flavor, like darjeeling), but without the... bitterness? astringency? that black tea can sometimes have. I'm not quite sure what the right word is to describe the flavor I'm thinking of, but it's shared by over-steeped black tea and coffee, and leaves me feeling like my mouth is dried out. Anyway, pu'er doesn't have that at all.

I recommend trying it, especially if you ever come across it in a coffeeshop or restaurant, somewhere you can try one cup instead of needing to buy an entire box.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I felt like China Dolls was a rehash of themes that See had done before and done better, but The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane deals with some new things, although it does have that inevitable friendship betrayal.

I've been planning to check out the tea cafes in the area, so I'll see if any of them have pu'er on the menu. Perhaps it will be a new favorite!