Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane follows the life of Li-yan, a member of the Akha hill tribe whose way of life is still tied to the land. Growing up picking tea leaves each season with her family and living without electricity or running water in a hut made on bamboo stilts, Li-yan’s life is a far cry from the modern world of the late 1980’s. Set to follow in her mother’s path as a midwife, Li-yan struggles to accept her path and works hard in school hoping to be the first in her village to qualify for upper level schooling that would open up other possibilities. Fate however intervenes through two different men destined to change her life, one through love, the other through the business of tea, helping her village join the modern world. Years later, across the globe, a young Chinese girl adopted by Americans wonders at her roots and the special tea cake that was wrapped in her blankets when she was left at the orphanage. Who was her mother and what is the significance of this tea cake? Full disclaimer, I am a huge fan of Lisa See’s works so I was inclined to like this book from the start, however I can truly say this is my favorite of all her books so far. See seems to flex her writing muscles in the vivid descriptions of the lush environment of the Akha tribe, its dangers and simpler way of life. The reader is fully immersed in the beauty and culture of Li-yan’s world, experiencing her inner turmoil fighting her lot in life and then the culture shock she experiences later in the city. As with all of See’s stories, there is a bittersweet quality to Li-yan’s story and the highs are magnified and all the more precious because of the lows. I enjoyed the surprising treat of a love story that developed from this and the way the characters bonded through their losses. See writes with a depth of character and setting that allows the reader to truly inhabit the story and, like the huigan or returning flavor of the teas in this book, the story is one to be savored long after it ends. Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this story from the publisher on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.