A beautiful story of a daydreamer and her family who try to escape their genteel poverty, falling in love in the process. ( )

Everything I've read by Gail Tsukiyama has been good. This pre World War II story helps us understand what women in China experienced as silk workers. Tsukiyama is very good at causing the reader to care about the characters. Consequently, this is a book that lifts you out of your own life. ( )

This work of historical fiction takes us to early 20th century China and the unique position of the women who worked in the silk factories in lieu of marriage, in order to help their families survive hard times.

Pei is but a child, about 9 years old, when her father, a struggling farmer, takes her to Auntie Yee’s house in the “large” village that has several silk factories. Unaware that this is more than just a visit, an adventure with her father, Pei goes with the kind Auntie Yee to “see the house” only to realize too late that her father has left her there. While she is heartbroken at first, she does eventually accept the kindness and friendship of other girls in the house and begins to learn the work of the silk factory. More importantly, she forms a close bond with the girls and women she comes to view as her new family.

I loved the unexpected strength and determination of these young women as they made their own way in a culture that restricted opportunities for women. The independence they gained, though initially forced on them, became their most prized attribute. They forged strong bonds and were successful in going against the male owners of the plant to demand better working conditions and shorter work hours.

The novel ends just as the Japanese invasion in 1938 ends their way of life, and Pei, along with a younger “sister” heads out for the next phase of their life’s journey.

This is one of Tsukiyama’s earlier works. It was interesting and engaging, and I’m glad I read it, but it isn’t up to the excellence so evident in her later novels. ( )

Women of the Silk by Gail Tsukiyama is an impressive debut novel. The author’s background in poetry shows clearly as the writing here is very evocative and lyrical. The book opens in 1919 China and tells the story of Pei a young girl from rural China as she, at age 8, is sent to a silk factory to work there among all the other young girls whose families need their wages more than they need the presence of another daughter. At first lonely and homesick, Pei eventually finds comfort and support in the kindness of the other girls who band together to nurture each other and their friendship brings the inquisitive and quick witted Pei the family love that she needs.

Covering twenty years in Pei’s life, this book also touches on the conditions in China at that time. The warlords are losing control, the communist are gathering power and the Japanese have invaded and are spreading horror in their path. While these events seem far away to Pei and her friends, they eventually find themselves caught in the changing times. On a more personal level, Pei’s story explores the close bonds among the sisterhood of silk workers and offers a great deal of detail about the process of spinning silk. This quiet, traditional way of life is in sharp contrast to the upheaval that is on their horizon.

I found Women of the Silk to be a fascinating read and the author’s meticulous research helps to create a picture of China in years leading up to the communist take-over. The one drawback to the story was the author’s failure to really breath life into her characters. The book is very much a descriptive rather than emotional narrative. However, this was a very worth while read and I fully intend to read the sequel to this book The Language of Threads at some point. ( )

A quick historical fiction read that looks at the lives of silk factory girls--and how they got there--during the 1920s/1930s in a town outside Canton.

Pei is given to a girls' house as a child of about 7--her father's fish/mulberry farm is struggling, her mother is ill, and someone needs to make money. Pei is chosen, her older sister Li stays home. She is left at the girls home with no warning.

Over the next 10-15 years she grows up, makes friends, advances in the factory, and is supporting her family back home--until the Japanese advance in the late 1930s. They never come to visit, while other girls' families do (or they write). As an adult, she realizes she was chosen as her docile sister would not have survived being left to factory work.

This book is interesting and a good read, but it also seems far-fetched. Were there really such girls' homes? Were women really allowed to be so independent? Were the girls really treated so well? I have no idea. ( )