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Four Treasures of the Sky: The compelling debut about identity and belonging in the 1880s American West

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From the very first line, Zhang warns you that the story isn’t one you would expect, especially if you wish for it to abide by what you must have already read with respect to the plot’s events. This book is haunting , luscious and precise - it's historical fiction as we most want and need it to be . It is relentlessly grim, readers should know, but I don’t think that’s a reason to knock significant stars off your review, as I’ve seen others do. Four Treasures of the Sky" by debut author Jenny Tinghi Zhang is a powerful, eye-opening work of historical fiction which highlights a little known chapter in American history.

She recognizes what she sees in all the urchins who dare slide into the fish market, and before I can look away, she is in front of me, body heaving. Although I had previously learned about the Chinese Exclusion Act and the influx of Chinese immigration to America during that time, I had mistakenly believed that laws at the time prevented Chinese women from leaving China.A dazzling combination of history, unforgettable voice and Chinese mythology that promises much more to come from this bright and devastating new talent.

Aspects of the Chinese migration that you not always hear about: like kidnapping Chinese to be used/sold as labour in America; the abuse and injustice suffered my Chinese migrants after(and before! Based on true events, this novel examines the life of a young girl kidnapped from a Chinese fishing village and sold into prostitution in 19th-century San Francisco. and i am so grateful for JTZs father for wanting such a story, because i had no idea how much i wanted it, too. While the story could almost feel exploitative in lesser hands, Zhang’s writing never makes it feel that way. For that I will mark this overall four stars, because it is very sad, and there is minimal emotional payoff for any optimistic readers.The writing is persuasive and lyrical and Daiyu's account of learning English is exquisite, but the narrative does sometimes threaten to overwhelm the reader's ability to suspend disbelief. Jenny Tinghui Zhang captures the adventure, the isolation, the violence, and the glittering hope of the American West. The magical realism interspersed within the story is often something that I am not a huge fan of but felt like it worked here completely. Four Treasures of the Sky by Jenny Tinghui Zhang is a brutal and unflinching historical fiction novel about a 13 year-old girl who is kidnapped from China and sent to America with other Chinese girls to work in a brothel. A narrative that is so visceral and almost impossible to forget, therefore the emotional story at the core of Four Treasures of the Sky pales in comparison.

This story is a bildungsroman, a 19th-century Chinese girl's journey into adulthood, and her struggle to become the best person she can be at a time when being a girl was a burden in itself. This novel comes at a time when another uptick in anti-Asian hate crimes has become major headline news and anti-Chinese sentiments lurk about. In a sweeping adventure that spans China and the American West, Jenny Tinghui Zhang has crafted a thoughtful story of identity, love, and belonging. The protagonists of all the books that I read going forward are at a disadvantage: I will be comparing them to Lin Daiyu and her indelible spirit for years to come…This novel will stay with you long after you finish reading it. She realises the injustices are different on this other side of the world but aren’t any less brutal.Set in the late 1800s this book follows a young girl who is kidnapped from China and smuggled to America where she is forced to adopts many different personas as a way to survive. The aspects of racial violence will have your stomach in knots, Zhang truly delivers a sense of dread and discomfort as she examines how even with best attempts at assimilation, whiteness will play gatekeeper to the point of violence at every opportunity.

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