Upon finishing this novel with my children, I visited the author’s webpage where she had the following quote from Madeleine L’Engle prominently displaUpon finishing this novel with my children, I visited the author’s webpage where she had the following quote from Madeleine L’Engle prominently displayed, “When we were children, we used to think that when we were grown-up we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept vulnerability… To be alive is to be vulnerable.” I thought this was an interesting quote to ponder in light of this novel that is a coming of age story, about growing up and accepting the vulnerability that comes with it.
This novel has a fascinating premise. Nine children live on an island, where no one comes or goes except for once a year when a green boat comes carrying one very small child, and at that time the eldest leaves the island. No one knows where that boat comes from or where it goes, just that there is a nursery rhyme that says the sky will fall if they do not comply. There are many rules in place to ensure that all goes smoothly, either handed down from the previous generations of children or via nursery rhymes. As the novel begins, Jinny loses her best friend Deen, whose turn it is to leave the island. Jinny becomes the eldest and Ess, who has just arrived, is her Care, meaning she will live with and learn from Jinny over the next year all that she needs to in order to survive.
After being brought to this magical world where children can play safely and set up with this mesmerizing, delicious premise, not much happens over the next year. It seems there is a lot of waiting, of expectation, and in between time. Is this what childhood feels like? I would think probably so, in the island’s non-technology driven world. During this year, unlike in Lord of the Flies, things go along just fine. Overall, the children are quite well behaved and keep each other in check.
Anyway, things finally start to get interesting when Jinny refuses to leave the island when the boat returns the following year. She takes the newly arrived youngest, Loo, as her Care and continues to keep Ess under her wing as well. The weather changes, the island becomes more threatening, and Jinny begins to change and develop into a woman. Finally, she realizes that she must leave as the reader is realizing that this whole novel is a metaphor for growing up. It is a metaphor for leaving childhood and entering adulthood. I will say I was mildly disappointed not to be able to find out the story behind Orphan Island, why the children ended up there, and where they went to after. However, if we knew all that.. the metaphor would be lost. This is a magical book that transports the reader to another realm. It will leave you satisfied, but wanting more! This is a book that the more I thought about it in hindsight, the more brilliant I felt it was.
Stunning, emotionally charged, socially critical novel about a young female Chinese woman and her American born son. This novel tackles so much and dStunning, emotionally charged, socially critical novel about a young female Chinese woman and her American born son. This novel tackles so much and does it well. It takes place in China as well as in America. The voice alternates from first person perspective of Peilan Guo and third person perspective of her son, Deming.
Peilan, fled China young and pregnant, in hopes of escaping the boy who impregnated her as well as the pregnancy, only to find she was a few weeks past 7 months and termination would be illegal. Her son Deming is born and she falls in love with him, but finds there is no way to work with him alongside of her. So like so many other Chinese refugees, she sends her son home to live with her father until he is of age to go to school. He returns at age 6 and finds himself living with his mother, her boyfriend Leon, Leon's sister Vivian and Vivian's son Michael. It's crowded and they are poor, but there is noise, friendship, sarcasm, and love aplenty. Peilan and Deming play fun games with each other like choosing similar looking people to themselves to be their doppelgängers. They create a whole story around this pair. Michael and Deming are the best of friends. Like brothers, they understand each other and look out for each other.
One day, Peilan goes to the nail salon where she works and she never returns. This comes on the heels of an argument with Leon about her wanting to move to Florida and Leon not liking the idea. No one knows where she has gone and it remains a mystery until the end of the novel. Leon disappears, leaving for China, 6 months later. Vivian is left alone with both Michael, Deming and Peilan's enormous debt. The money is tight, there is little food and she is very stressed. She ends up putting Deming in foster care and then signing him over for permanent placement.
Deming is fostered and then adopted by Kay and Peter and life in Ridgeborough, NY is stale and seemingly lonely. They change Deming's name to Daniel, saying it will be easier for him that way. He makes friends with Roland, a fellow musician who is Hispanic, so also seen as a "different" in this very Caucasian town. Kay and Peter both work at the University, have no friends in town and have strong ideas about what their son should do and be as he grows up.
The novel takes off from this point, as Daniel struggles with his identity. At the same time his mother, now Polly, has a completely new identity in China. Daniel's life comes to an unravelling point as he makes poor choices with gambling and alcohol, seeming to purposely self-sabatoge. Michael emails him, and after hesitating to respond, he reconnects with Michael which leads him ultimately to his mother. He finally learns the truth about his mother, how the salon was raided and she spent 18 months in a detention camp prior to being deported.
I felt like I connected with the characters, found the novel incredibly engaging and I enjoyed the historical aspects and learning about the immigrant experience from this perspective. Although extremely well done overall, there were a couple of holes in the story I didn't quite believe. First, I wondered why no one ever went to the nail salon to learn what had happened. Surely, someone must have known there. I also wondered why Polly gave up on looking for Deming once she heard he had been adopted. Yes, Leon felt that something inside Polly had broken, but she went from anguished over the loss to a new life very quickly.
This was a beautiful story of a father – daughter relationship. It tells of a past pertaining to the father, Samuel Hawley, from which he is trying toThis was a beautiful story of a father – daughter relationship. It tells of a past pertaining to the father, Samuel Hawley, from which he is trying to protect his daughter at all costs. His past is Herculean, it is a time of it’s own, yet it cannot be separated from the present. He has scars from twelve bullets. Twelve bullets are the equivalent of the twelve tasks of Hercules, the twelve hours on a clock. Hawley’s past is shady, but he is a good man and wants the best for his daughter. His job now is taking care of his daughter. The chapters describing the circumstances leading up to each bullet striking him alternate with chapters about his daughter coming of age. It is a unique intersecting of two lives, one in the past and one in the present.
The setting is Gloucester, Massachusetts, a fishing town that has a renowned greasy pole competition in the summer. However, the author has renamed Gloucester Olympus, giving it heroic proportions, suitable for the Hercules of this novel to tackle. He tackles it with humility and for his daughter. He does not enter the competition to win glory for himself. The town is well developed in the novel. The reader gets a sense of the determination and culture of the fishermen. This is set against the environmentalists embodied by Mary Titus who are fighting to protect against overfishing.
Hawley’s past is tainted. It is rough and difficult, full of narrow escapes. The daughter, Loo, is youthful, more innocent. Their relationship is full of respect and love. She doesn’t fully understand who he is, but she is starting too. She may be innocent, but even she carries pieces of his past within her. She often feels that sour taste rising in the back of her throat driving her to violence. In returning to her mother’s hometown, she is subject to bullying, but learns to fight for herself. She falls for a boy. She starts a waitressing job. She is coming of age, understanding her father better and the world at large.
This is a beautiful book which I highly recommend! I loved the intersection of an exciting shoot ’em up novel combined with a coming-of-age story and the subtle shift in the relationship between father and daughter. It was beautifully executed and seemingly timeless. It was tender and sweet plus keep-you-on-your-toes, exciting.
Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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