Gail Tsukiyama – författare

A LIBRARYREADS PICK AND BEST BOOK CLUB PICK OF 2023 “A writer of astonishing grace, delicacy, and feeling.”—Michael Chabon, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay“A beautiful, haunting book.”—Karen Joy Fowler, New York Times bestselling author of Booth and We Are All Completely Beside OurselvesThe beloved bestselling author of The Color of Air, Women of the Silk, and The Samurai's Garden returns with this magnificent historical novel based on the life of the luminous, groundbreaking actress Anna May Wong—the first and only Asian American woman to gain movie stardom in the early days of Hollywood.At the dawn of a new century, America is falling in love with silent movies, including young Wong Liu Tsong. The daughter of Chinese immigrants who own a laundry, Wong Liu and her older sister Lew Ying (Lulu) are taunted and bullied for their Chinese heritage. But while Lulu diligently obeys her parents and learns to speak Chinese, Wong Liu sneaks away to the local nickelodeons, buying a ticket with her lunch money and tips saved from laundry deliveries. By eleven Wong Liu is determined to become an actress and has already chosen a stage name: Anna May Wong. At sixteen, Anna May leaves high school to pursue her Hollywood dreams, defying her disapproving father and her Chinese traditional upbringing—a choice that will hold emotional and physical consequences.After a series of nothing parts, nineteen-year-old Anna May gets her big break—and her first taste of Hollywood fame—starring opposite Douglas Fairbanks in The Thief of Bagdad. Yet her beauty and talent isn’t enough to overcome the racism that relegates her to supporting roles as a helpless, exotic butterfly or a vicious, murderous dragon lady while Caucasian actresses in yellowface” are given starring roles portraying Asian women. Though she suffers professionally and personally, Anna May fights to win lead roles, accept risqué parts, financially support her family, and keep her illicit love affairs hidden—even as she finds freedom and glittering stardom abroad, and receives glowing reviews across the globe.Powerful, poignant, and imbued with Gail Tsukiyama's warmth and empathy, The Brightest Star reimagines the life of the first Asian American screen star whose legacy endures—a remarkable and inspiring woman who broke barriers and became a shining light in Hollywood history.

In "Women of the Silk", Gail Tsukiyama takes her readers back to rural China in 1926, where a group of women form a sisterhood amidst the reeling machines that reverberate and clamour in a vast silk factory from dawn until dusk. Leading the first strike the village has ever seen, the young women use the strength of their ambition, dreams and friendship to achieve the freedom they could never have hoped for on their own. Tsukiyama's graceful prose weaves the details of "the silk work" and Chinese village life into a story of miraculous courage and strength.

On the eve of the Second World War, a young Chinese man is sent to his family's summer home in Japan to recover from tuberculosis. There he meets four local residents, and what ensues is a classical yet wonderfully unique adventure that seizes the imagination with its clean, simple yet dazzling storytelling.

Two sisters. . . separate lives. . . one family that binds them together forever.Emma and Joan are the two daughters of the Lew family, coming of age during and after the turbulent years of World War II. Beautiful elder sister Joan hopes for a traditional family life, but through a series of troubled relationships begins a career as a Chinese film actress. Emma, inspired by the independence of her Aunt Go, sets her sights on an artistic life in San Francisco, only to find further solace back in Hong Kong.In the tradition of her previous, acclaimed novels, Gail Tsukiyama creates a moving, memorable story of women's experiences in Chinese culture.

In this dramatic story of hardship and survival in the face of historic upheaval, the author paints a moving unforgettable portrait of women fighting the forces of war and time to make a life for themselves.

Set in California, this is the poignant story of Cate and her daughter Hana. Hana has Werner's Syndrome, a disease which speeds ageing to twice the normal rate, so although she is 38, Hana looks 80. The lives of the two are quiet and dignified, until Laura, Hana's former schoolfriend, shows up.

Japan, 1939. Two orphaned brothers are growing up with loving grandparents who inspire them to dream of a future firmly rooted in tradition. The older boy, Hiroshi, shows signs of promise at sumo wrestling, while Kenji is fascinated by the art of Noh Theatre masks. But as the ripples of war spread, the brothers must put their dreams on hold-and then forge their own paths in a new Japan. Meanwhile, the two young daughters of a renowned sumo master find their lives increasingly intertwined with the rising fortunes of their father's star pupil, Hiroshi.Gail Tsukiyama has written her masterpiece: a powerfully moving story of tradition and change, of loss and renewal, and of the enduring strength of family ties at a crucial turning point in modern history.

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 labour camp for "re-education." 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.

PARADE’sBest Books to Read this Summer"A rich historical novel that illustrates why connection is more important and more vital than ever.” -New York Times bestselling author Lisa SeeDaniel Abe, a young doctor in Chicago, is finally coming back to Hawai'i. He has his own reason for returning to his childhood home, but it is not to revisit the past, unlike his Uncle Koji. Koji lives with the memories of Daniel’s mother, Mariko, the love of his life, and the scars of a life hard-lived. He can’t wait to see Daniel, who he’s always thought of as a son, but he knows the time has come to tell him the truth about his mother, and his father. But Daniel’s arrival coincides with the awakening of the Mauna Loa volcano, and its dangerous path toward their village stirs both new and long ago passions in their community.Alternating between past and present—from the day of the volcano eruption in 1935 to decades prior—The Color of Air interweaves the stories of Daniel, Koji, and Mariko to create a rich, vibrant, bittersweet chorus that celebrates their lifelong bond to one other and to their immigrant community. As Mauna Loa threatens their lives and livelihoods, it also unearths long held secrets simmering below the surface that meld past and present, revealing a path forward for them all.