It took me a bit to get into this book - but in the end - I am glad that I continued to read it. This is my favourite of the books I've read by Lisa See. I would definitely recommend it. ( )

Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS:
(Available as Print: ©; PUBLISHER: ; ISBN: ; PAGES: ; Unabridged.)
(Available as Digital: Yes)

*This version: Audio: ©3/21/2017; PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster Audio; DURATION: 14:13:35; PARTS: 12; Unabridged

SUMMARY/ EVALUATION:
I so enjoyed this Audie Award Nominee, that I don’t want to give anything away—so the only thing I’ll point out was how prescient Ms. See was in tucking within the folds of this lovely story (written in 2017) a mention that China has been the source of all of the world’s pandemics. That was just an aside, and is not at all central to the plot however.

AUTHOR:
Lisa See (2/18/1955). According to en.wikidark.org, “Lisa See is an American writer and novelist. Her books include On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family (1995), a detailed account of See's family history, and the novels Flower Net (1997), The Interior (1999), Dragon Bones (2003), Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2005), Peony in Love (2007) and Shanghai Girls (2009), which made it to the 2010 New York Times bestseller list. Both Shanghai Girls and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan received honorable mentions from the Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature.”

NARRATOR(s): There is no listing that I can find, of which actor played which character so these are my best guesses:

Ruthie Ann Miles (4/21/1983). (Li-yan/Tina Chang & narration which includes other characters?) According to wikicelebs.com, Ruthie Ann “is a famous American actress and model from Arizona, USA. She is known in the Hollywood industry for her role of Rockaway Detective in the movie named "Elementary" in the year 2017. Before working in the movies, she used to work in the theaters.”

Kimiko Glenn (6/27/1989). (Character?) According to IMDb, Kimiko “Kimiko Elizabeth Glenn was born and raised in Phoenix, AZ, where she grew up with her sister Amanda, and parents Mark and Sumiko. She started doing theater when she was ten years old at Valley Youth Theatre and there, began developing her love for performing.
Halfway through her freshman year of college at the Boston Conservatory, she was cast in the 1st National Tour of Spring Awakening. After touring for two years, she finally settled her life in New York.”

Alex Allwine. (Character?) Some other books narrated by Alex are: The Chancellor Audiobook By Kati Marton; The Girls Are All So Nice Here By: Laurie Elizabeth Flynn; The End of Getting Lost A Novel
By: Robin Kirman; Storm Rising A Thriller By: Chris Hauty; Dark Horses A Novel By: Susan Mihalic; Mrs. Fletcher By: Tom Perrotta; Six Weeks to Live A Novel By: Catherine McKenzie; The Need By: Helen Phillips; Behind the Red Door A Novel By: Megan Collins; The Decameron Project 29 New Stories from the Pandemic By: The New York Times; Girl, Unframed By: Deb Caletti.

Gabra Zackman. (Character?) Gabra, according to tantor.com, “is the award-winning narrator of over 300 audiobooks and has been in the business since 2004, when she started recording for the National Library Service for the Blind (a program she still participates in). She is a classically trained actress who has been seen all over the country in theaters and occasionally on film or TV. Gabra is also an author and has penned the Bod Squad series, a funny and romantic spy caper series. She is based in New York City.”

Jeremy Bobb (5/13/1981). (Dr. Sheldon Katz) According to Wikipedia, Jeremy “is an American actor who has appeared on stage, television and in feature films. He had a recurring role in CBS's 2013 drama Hostages as White House Chief of Staff Quintin Creasy and co-starred as Herman Barrow in the Cinemax TV series The Knick.[1][2] In 2014, he played Stevie in the crime-drama film The Drop.[3] In 2019, Bobb appeared in the Netflix series Russian Doll.
He attended Otterbein University and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2003.[4]”

Joy Osmanski . According to BEEAUDIO, Joy “Raised in Olympia, Washington, Joy graduated from the University of California, San Diego MFA Acting Program. Stage credits include Our Town, The Three Sisters, Romeo and Juliet, Major Barbara, and many others. Since moving to LA, Joy has worked consistently in television and film, appearing as a series regular or guest star in shows such as The Loop, The Fosters, Santa Clarita Diet, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and the FOX animated series Allen Gregory. She can be heard as the split-personality AI Failsafe in Destiny 2 and is the winner of three Earphones Awards. Joy is the stepmom to one teenager, mom to two toddlers, walker of one dog, and co-beekeeper (with her husband) of about 60,000 bees.”

Emily Watson (1/14/1967). According to Wikipedia, Emily “is an English actress. She began her career on stage and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1992. In 2002, she starred in productions of Twelfth Night and Uncle Vanya at the Donmar Warehouse, and was nominated for the 2003 Olivier Award for Best Actress for the latter.
She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her debut film role as Bess McNeil in Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves (1996) and for her role as Jacqueline du Pré in Hilary and Jackie (1998), winning the British Independent Film Award for Best Actress for the latter. For her role as Margaret Humphreys in Oranges and Sunshine (2010), she was also nominated for the AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
Her other films include The Boxer (1997), Angela's Ashes (1999), Gosford Park (2001), Punch-Drunk Love (2002), Red Dragon (2002), The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004), Corpse Bride (2005), Miss Potter (2006), Synecdoche, New York (2008), War Horse (2011), The Theory of Everything (2014), Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) and The Happy Prince (2018). For her role in the HBO miniseries Chernobyl, she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award. She won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress for playing Janet Leach in the 2011 ITV television biopic Appropriate Adult and was nominated for the International Emmy Award for Best Actress for the 2017 BBC miniseries Apple Tree Yard.”
Erin Wilhelmi. According to IMDb, “Erin Wilhelmi is known for her work in the films and television series The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), The Knick (2014), Taxi Brooklyn (2014), Eye Candy (2015), Sweet, Sweet Lonely Girl (2016), and Unsane (2018). She was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. She made her Broadway debut in the 2016 Tony-nominated revival of Arthur Miller's The Crucible.”


GENRE:
Historical Fiction; Literature

SUBJECTS:
China; Pu-erh Tea;

DEDICATION:
“In memory of my mother, Carolyn See”

SAMPLE QUOTATION: From Part 1: “The Akha Way 1988-1990”, Chapter One: “A Dog on the Roof”
“What are you doing back there?” I ask.
He turns to me and grins. His cheeks are shiny with oil. Before he has a chance to speak, I hear A-ma calling.
“Girl! Girl! Stay near me.”
I scurry back across the courtyard, reaching my mother just as A-ba and my brothers exit the weighing area. They don’t look happy.
“We were too late,” A-ba says. “They already bought their quota for the day.”
I moan inwardly. We’re a family of eight adults and many children. It’s hard to live on what we earn during the ten days a year of prime tea picking, the two secondary picking times of another ten days each, plus what rice and vegetables we grow and what A-ba and my brothers provide through hunting. Now we’ll have to take the leaves home, hope they stay fresh, and then tomorrow morning—early-early—climb back up here and sell them before rotating to Second Brother’s tea garden to do our work for the day.
A-ma sighs. “Another double day tomorrow.”
The sisters-in-law bite their lips. I’m not looking forward to walking here twice tomorrow either. But when my second and third brothers won’t meet their wives’ eyes, I realize even worse news is coming.
“No need,” A-ba reveals. “I sold the leaves at half price.”
That’s only two yuan per kilo. The sound that comes from A-na is not so much a groan as a whimpter. All that work at half price. The two sisters-in-law slump off to a water spout to refil our earthenware jugs. The men drop to their haunches. My sisters-in-law return and give the water to the men. After that, the two women fold themselves down next to A-ma, adjust their babies in their swaddling, and give over their breasts for nursing. This is our rest before the more than two-hour walk downhill to Spring Well.
As the others relax, I wander back across the courtyard to the boy. “Are you going to tell me why you’re hiding back here:” I ask as though no time has passed.
“I’m not hiding,” he answers, although surely he is. “I’m eating my pancake. Do you want a bite?”
More than anything.
I glance over my shoulder to A-ma and the others. I’m not sure what’s wrong with me, but whatever started with my lies at breakfast continues now. I step behind the wall of bags that smell of freshly harvested tea leaves. Once I’m back there, the boy doesn’t seem sure of what should happen next. He doesn’t break off a piece for me nor does he hold it out for me to take. But he offered me a bite, and I’m going to get it. I bend at the waist, sink my teeth into the softness of the pancake, and rip off a mouthful—like I’m a dog snatching a scrap from his master’s hand.
“What’s your name?” he asks.
“Li-yan,” I answer, my mouth happily full. My given name is used only at school and for ceremonial purposes. In my village, people call me Daughter-of-Sha-li (my a-ba’s daughter) or Daughter-of-So-sa (my a-ma’s daughter). In my family, I am Girl.
“I’m called San-pa,” he says. “I’m from Shelter Shadow Village. My father is Lo-san. My grandfather was Bah-lo. My great-grand-father was Za-bah . . .”
Every Akha boy is trained to Recite the Lineage by naming his male ancestors back fifty generations—with the last syllable of one generation becoming the first syllable of the next generation. I think that’s what’s going to happen, when a woman’s voice—angry—interrupts him. “Here you are, you little thief!”
I turn to see the old Dai woman who runs the pancake stand looming between us and the open courtyard. She grabs the cloth of my tunic. Then, with her other hand, she takes hold of San-pa’s ear. He yowls as she drags us from our lair.”

RATING:
4 stars.

STARTED READING – FINISHED READING
2/21/2022 – 2/28/2022 ( )

This is primarily a fascinating story of Pu'er, a valuable and possibly medicinally useful tea, and a family in the Chinese province of Yunan whose fortune is determined by the world's discovery and appreciation of it. Li-yan is the only daughter of an Akha family in Springwell Village, in the mountains of southwest China in the1980s - 1990s, where all live at poverty level, ignoring the older growth trees in favor of terrace-grown tea, until the arrival of a tea connoisseur from Han-majority China that changes the trajectory of the village. The stories of the political climate and the customs and superstitions of the Akha people, considered part of the "hill tribes", ethnic minorities, are fascinating, and the first part of the book, from Li-yan's viewpoint, touchingly tells of her love for a ne'er-do-well boy from a neighboring village, her pregnancy, the abandonment of her daughter, the downfall of their eventual marriage, and her brilliant success in the Pu'er business and in America. The story is greatly weakened when Li-yan's daughter Haley, adopted by affluent American academics, is introduced. The inevitability of Haley's scientific interest in tea to force a reunion is a weak plot point, and Haley's privileged American life a distraction from the much more riveting tea universe. The audio was nicely done, except for Haley's voice, which was annoyingly babyish and stayed that way even as she turned 21. ( )

I agree with reviewer ChristineMiller47. ( )

Absolutely loved it. Beautifully written and such a strong ending. ( )