Readers who know little of Chinese history will absorb an informative account that spans from the conclusion of the Chinese Civil War in 1949 to the present day. With respect to the book's historical context, Do Not Say We Have Nothing boldly defies any assertions that a country's history ought to be portrayed in whatever light best suits the regime's politics. With Ai Ming's help, Maria pieces together the history of their ancestors, exploring how China's political campaigns had ramifications that lasted for generations. Ai Ming unearths a collection of notebooks written by Marie's deceased father, among which is the Book of Records - a story handwritten by Ai Ming's father. With maturity and sophistication, humor and beauty, Thien has crafted a novel that is at once intimate and grandly political, rooted in the details of life inside China yet transcendent in its universality.Ĭlick here to watch a video review of this book on my channel, From Beginning to Bookend.Ī young Chinese girl (Li-Ling), whose English name is Marie, is living with her mother in Vancouver when a relative from China appears at their door: a teenage girl named Ai Ming who seeks refuge after the student occupation of Tiananmen Square. Her quest will unveil how Kai, her enigmatic father, a talented pianist, and Ai-Ming’s father, the shy and brilliant composer, Sparrow, along with the violin prodigy Zhuli were forced to reimagine their artistic and private selves during China’s political campaigns and how their fates reverberate through the years with lasting consequences. Through their relationship Marie strives to piece together the tale of her fractured family in present-day Vancouver, seeking answers in the fragile layers of their collective story.

At the center of this epic story are two young women, Marie and Ai-Ming. Master storyteller Madeleine Thien takes us inside an extended family in China, showing us the lives of two successive generations-those who lived through Mao’s Cultural Revolution and their children, who became the students protesting in Tiananmen Square. The first time, to end his marriage, and the second, when he took his own life. “In a single year, my father left us twice.

Madeleine thien do not say