From Publishers Weekly
The unique bond forged between Chinese women who were abandoned by their families and forced into the silk industry at a young age is beautifully explored in Tsukiyama's (Night of Many Dreams) precisely crafted novel. During the Japanese invasion of Canton in 1938, Pei, a shy 27-year-old whose quiet strength marks her as a survivor, flees the silk factory where she has lived and worked since she was eight years old. She takes with her Ji Shen, an adolescent orphaned when the Japanese took Nanking, whom Pei has pledged to raise. Arriving in Hong Kong, Pei relies on her ties with the silk sisterhood to find housing and a place to work, and also to learn the rules and customs which she must adopt in this new environment. In spare, evocative prose, Tsukiyama paints contrasting pictures of the bustling wealth of Hong Kong and its massive poverty. First assigned to a wealthy Chinese household where she is embroiled in servants' quarrels, Pei finally finds unexpected peace working for "a white devil," a widowed Englishwoman who comes to treat Pei like a daughter. Flashbacks to Pei's early life in the silk factory punctuate the narrative, which skillfully traces 35 yearsAthrough the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong and its aftermath up until 1973Ain Pei's nimbly stalwart existence. Women provide for each other in myriad ways in this world, and the relationships forged between them glow at the heart of Tsukiyama's story. Sisters are reunited, mothers and adopted daughters remain steadfastly loyal, childbirth breeds grief, but affirmation, too, and great friends even return from the dead to console their loved ones in this quiet but powerful effort from a writer who proves once again that she is an unusually gifted storyteller. Agent, Linda Allen. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
The author of several novels (e.g., Night of Many Dreams), Tsukiyama here offers a sequel to her 1991 work, Women of the Silk, which introduced readers to a young Chinese girl working in a silk factory. It is 1938, and Pei, now 28 years old, has traveled to Hong Kong, where she finds herself working as a domestic servant and caring for a young girl named Ji Shen. Though the novel spans 35 years, it is mostly given to covering the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong and its aftermath through 1952. During those years, readers follow Pei and Ji Shen's struggle to survive fear and hardship, as British and Canadian civilians are interned under Japanese authority and a na?ve Ji Shen finds herself dealing in the black market. As in her other works, Tsukiyama's writing is richly descriptive and filled with historical detail, and her characters are fleshed out. Libraries with Tsukiyama's work will want to add this title, though as a sequel it works well on its own. Recommended for historical fiction and Asian American fiction collections.-AShirley N. Quan, Orange Cty. P.L., Stanton, CA Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Kirkus Reviews
A saga of a Chinese woman in the WWII eraand sequel to Women of the Silk (1991). Having barely escaped China after the Japanese invasion, 27-year-old Pei arrives in Hong Kong with a bag slung over her shoulder, 14-year-old orphan Ji Shen in tow, and a list of names. A silk sister since childhood (the sisterhood is ostensibly a workers union but is more akin to a religious order complete with a vow of chastity), Pei enlists the aid of other exiled sisters and soon finds work as a domestic. While Ji Shen lives at a boardinghouse and begrudgingly attends school, Pei acclimates to the uncloistered city, where she tries desperately to create a stable life for herself and the young girl she's taken under her wing. Unfortunately, Pei is fired (though the evil Fong really stole the pearls), but she soon finds work as a companion in the home of the irrepressible Mrs. Finch. Allowed to bring along Ji Shen, the three build a cozy nest and a solid bondthe relationship between the widowed British woman and Pei and Ji Shen is the most absorbing of the novelas Mrs. Finch becomes more surrogate mother than employer. Life changes again when the Japanese invade Hong Kong, sending Mrs. Finch off to wither in an internment camp, Pei to scrape by as a seamstress, and Ji Shen to learn the ways of the black market in bombed-out Hong Kong. One event leads to another: the war ends, Pei prospers and at last is reunited with a long-lost sister, though none of these events raises sufficient feeling in the reader to rouse a connection to the characters, ultimately failing to evoke much concern for the stoic Pei's struggles. A meandering story thats historically fascinating but emotionally uninvolving. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Review
"The Language of Threads is a delightful novel filled with adventure, surprise, and heart. The courageous women at its center are sure to captivate readers from all backgrounds."—Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, author of Mistress of Spices "Tsukiyama's writing is richly descriptive and filled with historical detail . . . Recommended."—Shirley N. Quan, Orange County Public Library, Stanton, California, Library Journal "In spare, evocative prose, Tsukiyama paints contrasting pictures of the bustling wealth of Hong Kong and its massive poverty . . . Women provide for each other in myriad ways in this world, and the relationships forged between them glow at the heart of Tsukiyama's story. Sisters are reunited, mothers and adopted daughters remain steadfastly loyal, childbirth breeds grief, but affirmation, too, and great friends even return from the dead to console their loved ones in this quiet but powerful effort from a writer who proves once again that she is an unusually gifted storyteller."—Publishers Weekly "A saga of a Chinese woman in the WWII era and sequel to Women of the Silk . . . historically fascinating."—Kirkus Reviews


Book Description
Readers of Women of the Silk never forgot the moving, powerful story of Pei, brought to work in the silk house as a girl, grown into a quiet but determined young woman whose life is subject to cruel twists of fate, including the loss of her closest friend, Lin. Now we finally learn what happened to Pei, as she leaves the silk house for Hong Kong in the 1930s, arriving with a young orphan, Ji Shen, in her care. Her first job, in the home of a wealthy family, ends in disgrace, but soon Pei and Ji Shen find a new life in the home of Mrs. Finch, a British ex-patriate who welcomes them as the daughters she never had. Their idyllic life is interrupted, however, by war, and the Japanese occupation. Pei is once again forced to make her own way, struggling to survive and to keep her extended family alive as well. In this story of hardship and survival, Tsukiyama paints a portrait of women fighting the forces of war and time to make a life for themselves.


From the Publisher
"THE LANGUAGE OF THREADS is a delightful novel filled with adventure, surprise, and heart. The courageous women at its center are sure to captivate readers from all backgrounds." --Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, author of THE MISTRESS OF SPICES and SISTER OF MY HEART


About the Author
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, Women of the Silk, The Samurai's Garden, and Night of Many Dreams.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In her acclaimed debut novel, Women of the Silk, Gail Tsukiyama told the moving story of Pei, brought to work in the silk house as a girl, grown into a quiet but determined young woman whose life was subject to cruel twists of fate, including the loss of her closest friend, Lin. Now we finally learn what happened to Pei, as she leaves the silk house for Hong Kong in the 1930s, arriving with a young orphan, Ji Shen, in her care. Her first job, in the home of a wealthy family, ends in disgrace, but soon Pei and Ji Shen find a new life in the home of Mrs. Finch, a British expatriate who welcomes them as the daughters she never had. Their new family is torn apart, however, by war and the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. As Mrs. Finch is forced into a prison camp and Ji Shen tries to navigate the perilous waters of the gang-run black market, Pei is once again forced to make her own way, struggling to survive and to keep her extended family alive as well.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

The unique bond forged between Chinese women who were abandoned by their families and forced into the silk industry at a young age is beautifully explored in Tsukiyama's (Night of Many Dreams) precisely crafted novel. During the Japanese invasion of Canton in 1938, Pei, a shy 27-year-old whose quiet strength marks her as a survivor, flees the silk factory where she has lived and worked since she was eight years old. She takes with her Ji Shen, an adolescent orphaned when the Japanese took Nanking, whom Pei has pledged to raise. Arriving in Hong Kong, Pei relies on her ties with the silk sisterhood to find housing and a place to work, and also to learn the rules and customs which she must adopt in this new environment. In spare, evocative prose, Tsukiyama paints contrasting pictures of the bustling wealth of Hong Kong and its massive poverty. First assigned to a wealthy Chinese household where she is embroiled in servants' quarrels, Pei finally finds unexpected peace working for "a white devil," a widowed Englishwoman who comes to treat Pei like a daughter. Flashbacks to Pei's early life in the silk factory punctuate the narrative, which skillfully traces 35 years--through the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong and its aftermath up until 1973--in Pei's nimbly stalwart existence. Women provide for each other in myriad ways in this world, and the relationships forged between them glow at the heart of Tsukiyama's story. Sisters are reunited, mothers and adopted daughters remain steadfastly loyal, childbirth breeds grief, but affirmation, too, and great friends even return from the dead to console their loved ones in this quiet but powerful effort from a writer who proves once again that she is an unusually gifted storyteller. Agent, Linda Allen. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

The author of several novels (e.g., Night of Many Dreams), Tsukiyama here offers a sequel to her 1991 work, Women of the Silk, which introduced readers to a young Chinese girl working in a silk factory. It is 1938, and Pei, now 28 years old, has traveled to Hong Kong, where she finds herself working as a domestic servant and caring for a young girl named Ji Shen. Though the novel spans 35 years, it is mostly given to covering the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong and its aftermath through 1952. During those years, readers follow Pei and Ji Shen's struggle to survive fear and hardship, as British and Canadian civilians are interned under Japanese authority and a na ve Ji Shen finds herself dealing in the black market. As in her other works, Tsukiyama's writing is richly descriptive and filled with historical detail, and her characters are fleshed out. Libraries with Tsukiyama's work will want to add this title, though as a sequel it works well on its own. Recommended for historical fiction and Asian American fiction collections. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 6/15/99.]--Shirley N. Quan, Orange Cty. P.L., Stanton, CA Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A saga of a Chinese woman in the WWII era—and sequel to Women of the Silk (1991). Having barely escaped China after the Japanese invasion, 27-year-old Pei arrives in Hong Kong with a bag slung over her shoulder, 14-year-old orphan Ji Shen in tow, and a list of names. A silk sister since childhood (the sisterhood is ostensibly a workers' union but is more akin to a religious order complete with a vow of chastity), Pei enlists the aid of other exiled sisters and soon finds work as a domestic. While Ji Shen lives at a boardinghouse and begrudgingly attends school, Pei acclimates to the uncloistered city, where she tries desperately to create a stable life for herself and the young girl she's taken under her wing. Unfortunately, Pei is fired (though the evil Fong really stole the pearls), but she soon finds work as a companion in the home of the irrepressible Mrs. Finch. Allowed to bring along Ji Shen, the three build a cozy nest and a solid bond—the relationship between the widowed British woman and Pei and Ji Shen is the most absorbing of the novel—as Mrs. Finch becomes more surrogate mother than employer. Life changes again when the Japanese invade Hong Kong, sending Mrs. Finch off to wither in an internment camp, Pei to scrape by as a seamstress, and Ji Shen to learn the ways of the black market in bombed-out Hong Kong. One event leads to another: the war ends, Pei prospers and at last is reunited with a long-lost sister, though none of these events raises sufficient feeling in the reader to rouse a connection to the characters, ultimately failing to evoke much concern for the stoic Pei's struggles. A meandering story that's historically fascinating but emotionallyuninvolving.

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