What a remarkable book!
The history of China's Civil War is revealed through a cast of characters beginning with Marie and Ai-Ming, the children of the previous generation that experienced the horrors of the Cultural Revolution. The girls are trying to unravel the mystery of their parent' lives. Marie is the daughter of Kai, a renown pianist, while Ai-Ming is the daughter of Sparrow, a talented composer. Their fathers , along with a young violin prodigy, Zhuli, are swept up togetehr in the horrific events of the Revolution.
Thien brilliantly evokes the utter lack of control the Chinese had over their own lives during this time. The utter devastation of the country and its citizens is so well-done that it is hard to shake off the mood created.

History, politics, love and music

Do Not Say We Have Nothing: A Novel by Madeleine Thien (W. W. Norton, $26.95).

Shortlisted for this year’s Man Booker Prize, Madeleine Thien’s Do Not Say We Have Nothing: A Novel is the story of a family through 20th century China.

Thien moves fluidly through the last half of the century, touching on the Great Famine, the Cultural Revolution, and Tiananmen Square, while telling a love story wrapped in music. The daughters of Jiang Kai, a concert pianist, and the composer known as Sparrow, unravel the story of their families by reading notebooks named The Book of Records. The novel itself is a counterpoint to the Bach sonatas that are mentioned throughout, providing a soundtrack for several lifetimes of resistance, resilience, and art in the face of destruction.