Loved this book! It is the story of Inara and Mei Lien whose time on earth was separated by more than a century. Inara has finished her PHd in international business and expecting to start a job with Starbucks so that she can pay off her student loans. Before that happens Inara goes back to the island estate in the San Juan islands where she spent so many happy summers - until the death of her mother. The estate has been left to her by her aunt, along with the suggestion that she turn it into a B & B. Her sister joins her for a few days to go through the estate which is in sad condition. While searching they come across a beautifully embroidered sleeve hidden in a secret space. She becomes obsessed with the history of the piece. Spending time in this beautiful place she begins to replace her Starbucks plans with the idea of turning the estate into an elite hotel.
As you can probably guess, that sleeve was done my Mei Lien! Mei Lien lived in this area in the 1800's. Her parents and her paternal grandmother had left China and arrived in Seattle, which was then in the territory of Washington, to begin a new life. Mei Lien was born in this country but was still considered Chinese by all of the white people. So they came up with the Chinese Exclusion Act. Which gave them the 'right' to use force to make the Chinese leave. (This reminded me of the interment camps to which the Japanese-Americans taken during WWII - another bit of history that never seems to be taught in classes.)
I was fascinated by Mei Lien's story as it was interspersed with Inara's story. There were characters to hate and characters to love and admire!
Click for availability.
No comments:
Post a Comment