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Four treasures of the sky
Book
2022
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Where is it?
Fiction/Biography Profile
Characters
Daiyu (Female), Chinese, Named after fictional poet Chinese Lin Daiyu; her parents are kidnapped; then her grandmother sends her from the village to Zhifu; she is kidnapped when she is 13 years old
Genre
Fiction
Historical
Magic realism
Literary
Topics
Chinese history
Family
Kidnapping
Violence
Prejudice
Cruelty
Setting
China - Asia
San Francisco, California - West (U.S.)
Idaho - West (U.S.)
Time Period
1880s- -- 19th century
Large Cover Image
Trade Reviews
Library Journal Review
DEBUT After seeing a road marker in Pierce, ID, stating "Chinese Hanging," Zhang put an extraordinary amount of research into this historical novel with a touch of magical realism. The 1880s Chinese Exclusion Act permitted such barbaric behavior. In China, Daiyu had a happy childhood until her parents disappeared. Then she's kidnapped and transported to a brutal San Francisco brothel. After escaping, she moves to Boise, ID, where she calls herself Jacob Li (for protection against the violent American men she encounters). Eventually, she meets two elderly Chinese men in Pierce who give her work in their store and a home. One day, she and the store owners are threatened and abused by a white shopkeeper. Things take a tragic turn when Daiyu, the old men, and another Chinese friend are falsely accused of murdering their "rival." The sham trial adds to the horror and indignity they face as their lives are deemed expendable. In the epilogue, Zhang reveals that she finished the first draft of the book when COVID struck, when then-president Trump called it "The Chinese Virus." This emboldened her to remind people of what the United States did--and is still capable of. VERDICT Those who want to learn about a little-known incident in Chinese-American history will be enlightened by this moving debut.--Susan G. Baird
Publishers Weekly Review
Zhang delves into the history of violence and prejudice against Chinese people in the U.S. with her debut, a lyrical and sweeping Bildungsroman. The narrator, Daiyu, is inspired by the tragic character at the center of Cao Xueqin's 18th-century novel Dream of the Red Chamber, whose irascible trickster ghost inhabits Daiyu. In the 1880s, Daiyu's mother and father suddenly disappear from their home in China. Daiyu finds refuge in a calligraphy school, disguised as a boy, but is nevertheless smuggled to a brothel in San Francisco's Chinatown. Narrowly escaping, thanks to the ghost's fearlessness, she reaches the mining town of Pierce, Idaho, and is hired by Nam and Lum, the Chinese owners of a general store. After a violent white mob threatens them, handsome violin teacher Nelson Wong stands with them and helps rescue a wounded Nam, and Daiyu secretly falls in love with him. Her story of self-discovery is interrupted after the white proprietor of a competing store is found murdered and Daiyu and the others are arrested, then abducted by vigilantes. The author skillfully delineates the many characters and offers fascinating details on Chinese calligraphy and literature, along with an unsparing view of white supremacy. The result is fierce and moving. Agent: Stephanie Delman, Trellis Literary. (Apr.)
Summary

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK · A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITOR'S CHOICE · REVIEWED ON THE FRONT COVER · INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

"Zhang's blend of history and magical realism will appeal to fans of Ta-Nehisi Coates' The Water Dancer as well as Amy Tan's The Valley of Amazement ." -- Booklist (starred review)

"Engrossing...Epic" ( The New York Times Book Review ) · "Transporting" ( Washington Post ) · "Propulsive" (Oprah Daily) · "Surreal and sprawling" (NPR) · "An absolute must-read" (BuzzFeed) · "Radiant" ( BookPage )

A dazzling debut novel set against the backdrop of the Chinese Exclusion Act, about a Chinese girl fighting to claim her place in the 1880s American West

Daiyu never wanted to be like the tragic heroine for whom she was named, revered for her beauty and cursed with heartbreak. But when she is kidnapped and smuggled across an ocean from China to America, Daiyu must relinquish the home and future she imagined for herself. Over the years that follow, she is forced to keep reinventing herself to survive. From a calligraphy school, to a San Francisco brothel, to a shop tucked into the Idaho mountains, we follow Daiyu on a desperate quest to outrun the tragedy that chases her. As anti-Chinese sentiment sweeps across the country in a wave of unimaginable violence, Daiyu must draw on each of the selves she has been--including the ones she most wants to leave behind--in order to finally claim her own name and story.

At once a literary tour de force and a groundbreaking work of historical fiction, Four Treasures of the Sky announces Jenny Tinghui Zhang as an indelible new voice. Steeped in untold history and Chinese folklore, this novel is a spellbinding feat.

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