Women of the Silk and The Language of Threads by Gail Tsukiyama
Women of the Silk tells the story of Pei, a young Chinese woman who is sent to a silk factory as a child. The story begins shortly before she enters the factory in 1919, and ends when she is forced to leave due to the Japanese occupation in 1938. The Language of Threads picks up where Women of the Silk left off, and covers Pei’s life in Hong Kong through 1952. These are the first books of Tsukiyama’s that I’ve really loved since encountering In the Samurai’s Garden early last year.
Like most of Tsukiyama’s works, the focus is on young Chinese people in the first half of the 20th century, the world they live in, and their encountering life and cultures outside of their previous experiences. Here, Tsukiyama also focuses on the concept of family, both in the concept of the family you’re born into, and the family you make, particularly the latter. Almost every important relationship (and there are many) is between women (one of which is established as being romantic in nature, and one other-possibly two-carries that implication) both in terms of family and friendship, and Tsukiyama’s depictions of both rural China and the silk factory and occupied Hong Kong are fascinating.
Like most of Tsukiyama’s works, the focus is on young Chinese people in the first half of the 20th century, the world they live in, and their encountering life and cultures outside of their previous experiences. Here, Tsukiyama also focuses on the concept of family, both in the concept of the family you’re born into, and the family you make, particularly the latter. Almost every important relationship (and there are many) is between women (one of which is established as being romantic in nature, and one other-possibly two-carries that implication) both in terms of family and friendship, and Tsukiyama’s depictions of both rural China and the silk factory and occupied Hong Kong are fascinating.