It didn’t take me long to be completely drawn in to the story of Li-yan, a young girl living in a remote mountain village in China. The story begins in the late 1980s but seems much further back in history because the customs and way of life of the Akha people are so set apart from any kind of modern society. Li-yan’s family are tea farmers who live very simple lives. They work hard to earn the bare minimum to sustain their large family. They believe that spirits live in the forest and they have many rituals to prevent the spirits from entering the village and causing sickness and harm. They have complicated rules and rituals to protect themselves from the evil spirits. Li-yen grows to love learning and she is permitted to continue schooling past the normal age for children in her village. This opportunity brings both happiness and extreme tragedy to her. Li-yen becomes pregnant out of wedlock and is forced to make an unthinkable choice, which she carries the rest of her life. Her life is marked by much pain and tragedy as she struggles with the consequences of her daughter’s birth as well as her marriage to San-pa.
As a trigger warning, I will tell you that this book has some hard topics and goes into fairly graphic detail, the most disturbing is infanticide. The Akha people believed for centuries that twins are a curse and must be killed. In my little bit of research on the Akha people I found that the author seemed to really know the customs and culture of this remote people group.
Another topic the book delves into is international adoption and the effects, especially for girls adopted during the time of China’s one-child policy. (The policy was in effect and strictly enforced from 1980-2016.) I hadn’t ever thought about the conflicting emotions that young girls adopted from China during this time would feel. The term used in the book during a group therapy session is “grateful-but-angry”-grateful for a loving adopted family, but angry that her birth parents didn’t want her or couldn’t keep her. Li-yen’s daughter, Haley, experiences many emotional ups and downs in the book and eventually comes to terms with her upbringing.
The topics of infanticide and adoption are interwoven and bring a depth of understanding even to the current topic of abortion going on in America right now. As a Christian, I see this book highlighting the joy of bringing children into the world, even when it is difficult. It shows the pain and trauma associated with the loss of a child, whether by choice or not. It also shows the deep love of a mother. A line in the book that stuck out to me was something Li-yen says after her mother has made arrangements for her and offers her hope in the midst of what she felt was hopeless because of her own choices. She says, “All this is happening too fast. I don’t know what to think or how to feel. Disappointment. Confusion. Guilt. Worry. Fear. Sadness. Grief. And more. But one emotion overrides them all: deep love for my a-ma. Tears of gratitude streak my face.” Her mother’s love supersedes her mistakes and wrong choices. She feels like a failure, but her a-ma offers forgiveness and a path to a better life. This, to me, is a beautiful picture of The Gospel-the way Christ offers me forgiveness and opens the door for me to live a different life.
Lastly, I thoroughly enjoyed learning about a specific type of tea called Pu’er. I enjoy tea but don’t consider myself a connoisseur. At the end of the book, in the author’s notes, she recommends Bana Tea Company. One their website they sell a tasting kit for book clubs or individuals to try different types of Pu’er tea. I plan to order the tea and try it with my friend Sharon who recommended the book to me. Stay tuned for a tea review!
Have you read “The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane”? If so, I’d love your thoughts!
Excerpt from: "The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane: A Novel" by Lisa See. Scribd. This material may be protected by copyright.
Read this book on Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/book/341135510
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