I feel like I want to write about these books together. I am really glad to have read them together. There are overlaps in my mind between these two books. The key to overcoming hardship, particularly for young women and girls, is education. I so admire the tenacity and determination exhibited by these young women and believe it is representative of so many. And when I consider my own approach to my own education I am humbled and even embarrassed to have squandered so much of it. To be a western (and white) woman has sheltered me from what so many others across this globe go through as a matter of routine daily living.
The Girl With the Louding Voice by Abi Dare
Adunni is a young girl in a Nigerian village who dreams of going to school. Her mother made her father promise to follow through on that before she died and so Adunni is shocked when he instead arranges for her, at the age of 14, to become the 3rd wife of a much older man in exchange for money and food. Their wedding ceremony involves the two old men ‘swapping’ those things for her and even includes the final moment of her father placing her hand in the man's hand while uttering these words...
“This is your wife now, from today till forever, she is your own. Do her anyhow you want. Use her till she is useless! May she never sleep in her father house again!” And everybody was laughing and saying “Congra-lations! Amen! Congra-lations!”
sigh.
This book was hard in many ways to read but I am so glad I did. Side note - I actually listened to it on Audible and HIGHLY recommend that be the method of getting this story. The narrator was PERFECT and brought the character of Adunni to life for me! Her joy and sorrow and her never to be stifled spirit of optimism (goodness... in the face of so much.) I think if I had tried to read it I might have missed some of the beauty of the story... I needed to hear the dialect and the emotion in the sentences. Some books are just made to be listened to and this was certainly one of them.
Adunni faces many trials once leaving her father’s house and often I wondered how she would survive, much less thrive. But her indomitable spirit carried her through and her deep inner wisdom, so remarkable for one so young, kept her going and even influenced others older than her. I was rooting for her the whole way and appreciated the way the book ended on a hopeful note. I know Adunni has great things in store for her in her future.
I rated this book a 4.5 solidly, might even go to a 5. Our book club rated it a 4.83. May be the highest rated book of this grouping (18 months).
Quotes from the book include...
“We all be speaking different because we are all having different growing-up life, but we can all be understanding each other if we just take the time to listen well.”
“Now I know that speaking good English is not the measure of intelligent mind and sharp brain. English is only a language, like Yoruba and Igbo and Hausa. Nothing about it is so special, nothing about it makes anybody have sense.”
“Chief goes to church. He is a member of the Men of Virtue group. How can a man go to church for so long, for years, and not find God?” Big Madam ask this as if she lost, confuse. “Because God is not the church,” I say, keeping my chin down, my voice low. I want to tell her that God is not a cement building of stones and sand. That God is not for all that putting inside a house and looking Him there. I want her to know that the only way to know if a person find God and keep Him in their heart is to check how the person is treating other people, if he treats people like Jesus says - with love, patience, kindness, and forgiveness.
Here is a youtube video featuring the author of The Girl With the Louding Voice - Abi Dare. This was her debut novel.
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See
I loved this book! And to think that I almost stopped reading it! There is a scene, very early in the book, that I almost couldn’t get through or past. I still have to be careful letting it into my head. Haunting, for sure. BUT, I am thankful I kept going. This book was a solid 5 for me! (book club rated it 4.33 overall)
This story is about a young Akha minority chinese girl named Li yan, but called only ‘Girl’ because girl children have no value. She grows up on Nannuo Mountain in Yunnan province in China - tea growing country. Her family makes a very meager living working their tea terraces - difficult labor for not much return. But Li yan dreams of an education and something beyond ‘the Akha Way’. Akha culture is heavily influenced by beliefs about the spirit world and many superstitions designed to keep communities safe. Some of these superstitions lead to horrific acts in the name of safety. However, Akha are also known for their belief in the connectedness of all living things. An interesting juxtaposition, to be sure.
Li yan eventually makes a life far beyond what she could have imagined growing up - in the tea world of China and beyond. Here again (like in Louding Voice) is a young woman, with seemingly no ‘value’ who has a determination to get an education and build a better life for herself, and for those she loves. That she succeeds in this so well is part of what makes the book such a wonderfully rewarding read. I now want to read more Lisa See books! Her writing was phenomenal and the characters are staying with me.
Since I am already a wine nerd, all the information about tea was fascinating to me - and not a stretch from my love of wine. Even some of the vocabulary is the same - tannin, mouthfeel, aromatics, finish... I intend to learn more about pu-er tea and credit this book with my newfound interest.
Quotes from the book...
As A-ma said, every story, every dream, every waking minute of our lives is filled with one fateful coincidence after another.
My family is clearly irritated with my actions and they say nothing to me in a very loud way.
Today we must endure a visit from the strangest creatures of all: missionaries. Akhas are taught never to hate, but this particular group of foreigners, who tell us our practices are evil, challenge my patience. They spend another half hour belittling us for our foolish superstitions. To them, we are not just ‘tu’ - backward - we are sinful.
“If you don’t love tea, you can’t make good tea,” I recite. Our tea trees are gifts from God. We can see the Akha Way in them.
Yunnan is known as a Global Biodiversity Hotspot. The province is said to have “as much flowering plant diversity as the rest of the Northern Hemisphere combined.”
“In the West, you think the individual is supreme, but the Akha see themselves as one link in the long chain of life, adjacent to all the other links of people and cultures, all carrying a collective wave toward the beach to throw a newborn up to safety.”
Here are some links I found that I thought were of interest regarding The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane. In case you are also interested in The Akha minority, Pu-er tea, and other Lisa See books.
Here is a good article and overview of the story from The Washington Post - https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/lisa-sees-new-novel-draws-readers-along-a-fantastic-tea-infused-trail/2017/03/20/11c0b9be-08fb-11e7-a15f-a58d4a988474_story.html
Here is a marvelous National Geographic article that is actually by author Lisa See - photos and everything. :) https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/one-perfect-cup
Lisa See has a pretty terrific website. This is a link to a ’see inside’ section all about The Tea Girl. Here you will find individual links for videos and more info about Tea, the Akha minority people, Lisa See’s tea trip to China and more.
https://lisasee.com/step-inside/the-tea-girl-of-hummingbird-lane/
I am completely enthralled with Pu-er tea now… here is an NPR article that goes more indepth about it.
Speaking of pu-er tea… I ordered this tasting kit for my book club group to have a tasting. We did and it was a fun and informative experience that we all enjoyed.
https://www.banateacompany.com/pages/Lisa_See_tasting-kits-2018.html
Here is a fact sheet about the Akha minority ethnic group - https://factsanddetails.com/asian/cat66/sub417/item2745.html
And I found this fascinating… This is a profile of a tea growing family who live on Nannuo Mountain and harvest tea. Much like the family in the book. Be sure to scroll through the multiple photos at the top using the right/left arrows. I was fascinated with the link at the bottom where you can schedule a ‘google hangout’ with this family. Goes along with the changes that are depicted in the book, too. :)
https://tealet.com/grower/profile/36
Here is a short video that shows the Akha people and an example of their Swing Festival -
