Synopsis:
Looking to reconnect with their ancestral home and with one another, three generations of women tour mainland China on a journey that will change their family forever.
A stunning debut, A Thread of Sky is the story of a family of six fiercely independent women and the powerful thread that binds their lives.
When her husband of thirty years is killed in a devastating accident, Irene Shen and her three daughters are set adrift. Nora, the eldest, retreats into her high-powered New York job and a troubled relationship. Kay, the headstrong middle child, escapes to China to learn the language and heritage of her parents. Sophie, the sensitive and artistic youngest, is trapped at home until college, increasingly estranged from her family—and herself. Terrified of being left alone with her grief, Irene plans a tour of mainland China’s must-sees, reuniting three generations of women—her three daughters, her distant poet sister, and her formidable eighty-year-old mother—in a desperate attempt to heal her fractured family.
If only it were so easy. Each woman arrives bearing secrets big and small, and as they travel—visiting untouched sections of the Great Wall and the seedy bars of Shanghai, the beautiful ancient temples and cold, modern shopping emporiums—they begin to wonder if they will ever find the China they seek, the one their family fled long ago.
Over days and miles they slowly find their way toward a new understanding of themselves, of one another, and of the vast complexity of their homeland, only to have their new bonds tested as never before when the darkest, most carefully guarded secret of all spirals to the surface and threatens to tear their family apart forever.
A Thread of Sky is a beautifully written and deeply haunting story about love and sacrifice, history and memory, sisterhood and motherhood, and the connections that endure.
©2010
My Opinion:
This was a well written novel though I found myself only half interested while reading it. I loved the author's choice of words, but wasn't always fond of the story I was reading.
The whole book was a mix of these feelings.
So maybe not my favorite read, but one I am sure women's lit fans will love!
2.5/5
~I received a copy from Penguin. I was not compensated for my opinion.~
The synopsis made it sound like it could be a really amazing book, it's a shame it didn't live up to it for you.
ReplyDeleteyeah, the premise sounds good.
ReplyDeleteThis type of story has to be really good to get my attention. While the synopsis sounds slightly intriguing I appreciate your honest review Freda, I will probably pass on this one.
ReplyDelete