Most Popular Books by Gail Tsukiyama

Shortly before World War II, a Chinese man, sent to Japan to recover from tuberculosis, meets a lovely Japanese girl and four older residents, in a story of passion and sacrifice.

Sample Text

Spanning the years between the world wars, this tale of a young Chinese girl forced to work in a silk factory describes the sisterhood of workers she discovers there.

Gail Tsukiyama''s A Hundred Flowers is powerful novel about an ordinary family facing extraordinary times at the start of the Chinese Cultural Revolution 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 Ying''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.

Bestselling author Gail Tsukiyama is known for her poignant, subtle insights into the most complicated of relationships. Dreaming Water is an exploration of two of the richest and most layered human connections that exist: mother and daughter and lifelong friends. Hana is suffering from Werner''s syndrome, a disease that makes a person age at twice the rate of a healthy individual: at thirty-eight Hana has the appearance of an eighty-year-old. Cate, her mother, is caring for her while struggling with her grief at losing her husband, Max, and with the knowledge that Hana''s disease is getting worse by the day. Hana and Cate''s days are quiet and ordered. Cate escapes to her beloved garden and Hana reads and writes letters. Each find themselves drawn into their pasts, remembering the joyous and challenging events that have shaped them: spending the day at Max''s favorite beach, overcoming their neighbors'' prejudices that Max is Japanese-American and Cate is Italian-American, and coping with the heartbreak of discovering Hana''s disease. One of the great joys of Hana''s life has been her relationship with her beautiful, successful best friend Laura. Laura has moved to New York from their hometown in California and has two daughters, Josephine and Camille. She has not been home in years and begs Hana to let her bring her daughters to meet her, feeling that Josephine, in particular, needs to have Hana in her life. Despite Hana''s latest refusal, Laura decides to come anyway. When Laura''s loud, energetic, and troubled world collides with Hana and Cate''s daily routine, the story really begins. Dreaming Water is about a mother''s courage, a daughter''s strength, and a friend''s love. It is about the importance of human dignity and the importance of all the small moments that create a life worth living.

Night of Many Dreams is the bestselling novel from Gail Tsukiyama that tells the tale of two sisters separated by ambition, bound by tradition As World War II threatens their comfortable life in Hong Kong, young Joan and Emma Lew escape with their family to spend the war years in Macao. When they return home, Emma develops a deep interest in travel and sets her sights on an artistic life in San Francisco, while Joan turns to movies and thoughts of romance to escape the pressures of her real life. As the girls become women, each follows a path different from what her family expects. But through periods of great happiness and sorrow, the sisters learn that their complicated ties to each other--and to the other members of their close-knit family—are a source of strength as they pursue their separate dreams.

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, in bestselling novelist Gail Tsukiyama''s The Language of Threads, 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.

PARADE’s Best Books to Read this Summer "A rich historical novel that illustrates why connection is more important and more vital than ever.” -New York Times bestselling author Lisa See Daniel Abe, a young doctor in Chicago, is finally coming back to Hawai''i. He has his own reason for returning to his childhood home, but it is not to revisit the past, unlike his Uncle Koji. Koji lives with the memories of Daniel’s mother, Mariko, the love of his life, and the scars of a life hard-lived. He can’t wait to see Daniel, who he’s always thought of as a son, but he knows the time has come to tell him the truth about his mother, and his father. But Daniel’s arrival coincides with the awakening of the Mauna Loa volcano, and its dangerous path toward their village stirs both new and long ago passions in their community. Alternating between past and present—from the day of the volcano eruption in 1935 to decades prior—The Color of Air interweaves the stories of Daniel, Koji, and Mariko to create a rich, vibrant, bittersweet chorus that celebrates their lifelong bond to one other and to their immigrant community. As Mauna Loa threatens their lives and livelihoods, it also unearths long held secrets simmering below the surface that meld past and present, revealing a path forward for them all.

"At the dawn of a new century, America is falling in love with silent movies, including young Wong Liu Tsong. By eleven Wong Liu is determined to become an actress and has chosen a stage name: Anna May Wong. At sixteen, Anna May leaves high school to pursue her Hollywood dreams. Nineteen-year-old Anna May gets her big break in The Thief of Bagdad. Yet her talent isn''t enough to overcome the racism that relegates her to supporting roles while Caucasian actresses in "yellowface" are given starring roles portraying Asian women. Though she suffers professionally and personally, Anna May fights to win lead roles and finds freedom and stardom across the globe." --

China, 1957. Mao Tsé-Tung declarou uma nova política na sociedade: "Deixem que uma centena de flores desabroche; deixem que uma centena de escolas de pensamento discorde". Muitos intelectuais acreditaram, por medo, que a abertura fosse apenas um truque do governo, e o marido de Ying Kai, Sheng, prometera não se comprometer para não colocar em perigo a sua segurança ou a de seu jovem filho, Tao. Mas em uma manhã de julho, pouco antes do seu sexto aniversário, Tao se surpreende com a ausência de seu pai. Sheng é arrastado para longe, sendo acusado de escrever uma carta criticando o Partido Comunista, e enviado para um campo de trabalho de "reeducação". Kai Ying demonstra, em cada página, sua luta diária para manter a pequena família junta face a esse lembrete chocante da ausência do marido. Os membros da família enfrentam suas culpas e segredos e esforçam-se para encontrar paz em um mundo em que o sentido de vida se perde. Outros personagens aparecem alinhando suas histórias com a da família. Pessoas comuns enfrentando diariamente circunstâncias extraordinárias com graça e coragem.

Mujeres de la seda nos transporta a la China rural de 1926, donde un grupo de mujeres jovenes forja una hermandad en medio del fragor de las bobinadoras de una gran fabrica sedera que lleva a cabo su febril produccion desde el amanecer hasta bien entrada la noche. Mientras, una guerra avanza inexorable hacia ellas y siembra sus vidas de incertidumbre, violencia y miedo. La elegante prosa de Tsukiyama nos muestra el mundo laboral, la vida y el papel de las mujeres en la sociedad china de principios del siglo xx, todo ello tejido con una trama de amistad, amor y coraje.

Dos hermanos que pierden a sus padres son acogidos en cas de sus abuelos. Los cuatro llevan una vida apacible y feliz hasta que Estados Unidos declara la guerra a Japón, que separa a los hermanos y trunca sus sueños: el de Hiroshi, que aspira a ser maestro de sumo (sumotori), y el de Kenji, que despunta como artesano de máscaras de teatro. Sus vidas se cruzan con Haru y Aki, dos hermanas huérfanas de madre, cuyo padre tiene la escuela de luchadores de sumo más prestigiosa de Japón.

En vísperas de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, el joven Stephen es enviado a la casa de verano de su familia, en Japón, para recuperarse de una tuberculosis. Allí descansará y estará en un ambiente tranquilo y solitario hasta el encuentro con cuatro residente

Een Chinese student wordt in 1937 geconfronteerd met een lepra-kolonie, wat zijn levensvisie sterk beïnvloedt.

In een Japanse familie tekenen zich de breuklijnen tussen het traditionele en moderne Japan af.

Les années vingt, dans une région rurale de la Chine. Fille d''un couple de paysans misérables, la petite Pei est envoyée à l''usine de la ville, dans une filature de soie. A l''âge de neuf ans, elle travaille déjà quinze heures par jour et envoie à ses parents l''argent dont ils ont besoin pour survivre à la famine. La fillette, déracinée, se sent d''abord terrifiée. Mais, bientôt, brillante, spirituelle et pleine de vie, elle trouve sa place dans la communauté. Grâce à la solidarité des autres jeunes filles avec lesquelles elle s''est liée d''amitié, le labeur éreintant devient supportable. Elles organisent le premier syndicat et la première grève jamais vue dans leur univers, découvrant ensemble la lutte pour la dignité, la fierté du travail bien fait. Un jour, Pei et sa meilleure amie, Lin, décident de prêter serment : elles renonceront au mariage afin de dédier leur vie entière à la filature et s''installeront dans le cadre paisible de la " maison des sœurs ". Le monde de la filature décrit dans ses moindres détails, les liens étroits qui unissent les ouvrières, le contraste entre la tradition incarnée par ces femmes et le changement imposé par le nouveau régime communiste font un tableau de genre saisissant et historiquement passionnant.

Een jonge zijdewerkster en haar vriendinnen vechten voor een goed bestaan in het door oorlog geteisterde China van de jaren dertig.

Een dertienjarig meisje bij wie een ongeneeslijke verouderingsziekte wordt vastgesteld, probeert dat te verwerken met hulp van haar moeder en een vriendin.