A Hundred Flowers
A Novel

Name: A Hundred Flowers
Brand: Macmillan Audio
Availability: InStock
Author: Gail Tsukiyama
ISBN: 9781427222480

Author: Gail Tsukiyama

Narrator: Jane Carr

Unabridged: 7 hr 2 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Published: 08/07/2012

Categories: Fiction, Historical Fiction

Synopsis

Gail Tsukiyama's A Hundred Flowers is powerful novel about an ordinary family facing extraordinary times at the start of the Chinese Cultural Revolution

China, 1957. Chairman Mao has declared a new openness in society: "Let a hundred flowers bloom; let a hundred schools of thought contend." Many intellectuals fear it is only a trick, and Kai Ying's husband, Sheng, a teacher, has promised not to jeopardize their safety or that of their young son, Tao. But one July morning, just before his sixth birthday, Tao watches helplessly as Sheng is dragged away for writing a letter criticizing the Communist Party and sent to a labor camp for "reeducation."

A year later, still missing his father desperately, Tao climbs to the top of the hundred-year-old kapok tree in front of their home, wanting to see the mountain peaks in the distance. But Tao slips and tumbles thirty feet to the courtyard below, badly breaking his leg.

As Kai Ying struggles to hold her small family together in the face of this shattering reminder of her husband's absence, other members of the household must face their own guilty secrets and strive to find peace in a world where the old sense of order is falling. Once again, Tsukiyama brings us a powerfully moving story of ordinary people facing extraordinary circumstances with grace and courage.

About Gail Tsukiyama

Born to a Chinese mother and a Japanese father in San Francisco, Gail Tsukiyama now lives in El Cerrito, California. Her novels include Dreaming Water, The Language of Threads, The Samurai's Garden, and Night of Many Dreams.

About Jane Carr

Simon Vance is the critically acclaimed narrator of approximately 400 audiobooks, winner of forty-one AudioFile Earphones Awards, and a six-time Audies recipient. He was the winner of the 2012 Audie Awards for Best Male Narrator, the 2011 Best Voice in Biography and History, and the 2010 Best Voice in fiction by AudioFile magazine. Audiofile magazine named him a Golden Voice, and Booklist magazine named him a Voice of Choice. Recently, Vance narrated Hilary Mantel’s Bring Up the Bodies (a 2013 Audie Awards winner), Bram Stoker’s Dracula (winner of two 2013 Audie awards), and Benjamin Hoff’s The Tao of Pooh by (winner of one 2013 Audie Awards and two nominations). Some of his best-selling and most critically acclaimed performances include Mark Logue and Peter Conradi’s The King's Speech, Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale, Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, all 21 titles of Patrick O’Brian’s Master and Commander series, Frank Herbert’s original Dune series and Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Annette on April 22, 2019

The Hundred Flowers Campaign, also termed the Hundred Flowers Movement, a period which begun in May 1956 in the People’s Republic of China during which the Communist Party of China encouraged its citizens to express openly their opinions of the communist regime. It was to lift the restrictions impos......more

Goodreads review by Book Concierge on February 23, 2024

Book on CD read by Simon Vance In this novel, Tsukiyama turns her attention to the mid-to-late 1950s and Mao’s Cultural Revolution in China. The title refers to 1957, when Chairman Mao declared “Let a hundred flowers bloom; let a hundred schools of thought contend,” and encouraged China’s intellectu......more

Goodreads review by Jill on October 14, 2012

This is such a quiet, subtle book that I don't quite know what to say about it. I think Kai Ying is the character I felt I knew the best. Though Tao and Wei tell their stories too, I felt like Tao's revolved around his injury, Wei's revolved around his journey and guilt, but Kai Ying's revolved arou......more

Goodreads review by Marcie on February 06, 2013

I have been a fan of Gail Tsukiyama's for many years, so when I saw this book at the library, I was eager to read it. I appreciate her simple yet beautifully descriptive writing style, and I usually enjoy the slower pace that is common in her books. This book, however, fell a little short. This story......more

Goodreads review by Lex on September 03, 2012

I won this novel from a Goodreads giveaway and am so happy that I did. What a beautiful, moving story that flowed and ebbed at the perfect times. In Communist China, we read about a family who is suffering from losing the husband of the home to a "reeducation" camp. They say he wrote a letter during......more

Quotes

“Tsukiyama's tale of love, loss, and courage is brought to life by Simon Vance. Narrating in a soft, straightforward tone, Vance is understated but renders the characters well. With only minor shifts in tone and dialect, Vance creates well-rounded and believable characters without even remotely attempting to tackle a Chinese accent. The result is brilliantly realized listening that will have listeners enthralled from start to finish.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“The point of view alternates among three generations of individuals, and Vance meets the challenge by adjusting his pitch and tone to telegraph each change. The character-driven novel is enhanced by Vance's insightful pacing and restrained use of drama.” —AudioFile Magazine

“This brilliant portrayal of a family torn half apart and mending like the kapok tree that Tao falls from is brought to life by the familiar voice of Simon Vance…He brings Sheng's family to life with his warm and inviting voice. Tsukiyama's story and Vance's voice make for a delightful journey into the early years of Communist China, when the promise of a better China never seemed so bleak.” —New World Review

“I was following this family almost as though it were my own and stayed all the way to the end of their story.” —All Things Considered, NPR

“The tenderness [Tsukiyama] shows for her characters creates a sympathetic portrait of intellectuals trying to live honestly in the shadow of oppression.” —Publishers Weekly

“Tsukiyama's close attention to detail and descriptive language paint a vivid picture of the daily life of Kai Ying and her family. Tsukiyama gently envelops the reader into the quiet sadness that permeates the entire household while weaving in the multiple hardships the family faces under communism. Strength of community; support and love of family, both natural and adopted; and the ability to heal and overcome loss are major themes within the moving novel.” —Booklist

“Best-selling author Gail Tsukiyama, recipient of PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award, takes us back to those times not by painting a panorama but in her thoughtful and forthright way by showing the consequences for one family.” —Library Journal