Lisa See develops her stories and characters so you can't put down the book until you are finished. Highly recommend.

As much as I read historical fiction, I rarely read historical fiction that takes place in China. I loved every minute of this story.

Li-yan grows up in a remote village as part of a family of tea farmers steeped in their cultural traditions. Li-yan has a child when she is still quite young and rather young than follow her culture she risks her life to give the child away. The rest of the story follows Li-yan and Hayley (the daughter she gave up) over the next 20 years.

I love how this book taught me something new - so much about tea, but never told in such a way that bored me. I can’t wait to read another book by this author.

This was a could-not-put-down for me, especially the first half or so. Such a poignant story. The characters came alive.I will be looking out for more of this author’s work.

I love Lisa See's books. She is a brilliant researcher and puts so much into her books. This one about tea and the people who grow it is fascinating. I learn more with every book, and enjoy the stories she tells.

This book is so interesting. Like all of this author's books, it takes a serious commitment. You can't just skim through this. You will want to read every word. This book tells the story of a girl growing up in the mountains of China, an ethnic minority, where they grow the best tea from the most ancient tea trees. The story follows her through life, from the sheltered life on the mountain full of ancient tradition, to the outside world and how she overcomes all of the obstacles set in her path.

I definitely recommend this one

I love all of Lisa Lee's books. This one is my new favorite. It is brilliantly researched. How she manages to make a book basically about tea and the people who grow it interesting fantastic. The characters are alive, real and
worth investing in. I really liked this book a lot. I also learned so much about the growth and rituals of tea and how important it is in certain cultures.

The novel begins with Li-Yan as a young girl living with her family in the remote mountain area of China in 1988. Tea and the farming of it are an important part of all of the people in their village. Li-Yan’s people live a simple life, in that they don’t have any modern conveniences such as electricity and vehicles. But they live by their own long standing rules, the traditions and customs of their culture. When the story begins, Li-Yan is just a girl enjoying time with her friend and her family. But soon she will witness someone giving birth and later she will have her own baby but under circumstances that she never imagined. She manages to leave her baby somewhere where it will have a chance to be adopted. Li-Yan experiences unthinkable things and is heartbroken. But her story and the whole story that surrounds her is so moving and so beautifully written.

I jumped into this one knowing little more than this was a historical fiction.



Sometimes this method of 'devil may care' book picks works out for me and others....not so much.

This one ended up working out ok until I decided I actually did want to know where the hell with was going and read the blurb.
Good grief. Spoiler much?!

I stuck with it anyway and ended up loving the second half(ish) much more than the beginning. The story was rich with imagery and cultural history (I have no idea how accurate it is as I know nothing of the Akha people and their rituals). Some of the sections telling Haley's experiences drug on for me. I appreciated seeing what life is like for adopted ethnic children living in a predominantly white society. I just felt like the point was being beaten in a little too long at times.
It was lovely how the story wove together to make a complete picture making the end very satisfying.
The narrator was pleasant as well.
Not my usual fare but a strong three stars.
This book was originally provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
See my full review on GoodReads https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1863844357

Another wonderful book by Ms. See. She never disappoints.

I always learn something new while enjoying the story.

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane is a story about traditions, modernization and a mother’s love.

I am a huge Lisa See fan and this novel reinforced my love of her writing.

A young woman in the Chinese Yunnan province tries to create balance between the traditions of her village and the society of the larger world outside. A Girl adopted from China by white Americans years to learn more about her birth mother. Both of their tales are intertwined with Chinese tea, specifically Pu’er tea, a rare variety that only grows in the tropical forests in China.

I fear to say too much and give away major plot points, but know this: this book is beautiful and fascinating. I was instantly drawn to Li-Yan’s story and her struggles. The parts of the story that focused on Haley were just as engaging. Li-Yan’s mother states in the first chapter, “No coincidence; no story,” and there are certainly coincidences throughout this story, yet I never felt like it was overdone or contrived. Pick up this book and fall in love with Li-Yan and Haley as I did.

Beautifully written - vivid descriptions of China landscapes, the AKha mountain people, and the intensive tea industry. The cultural challenges, customs, and taboos are an integral part of the story as is the history of the tea, tea plantations, and tea industry. I truly enjoyed all the information about teas. So much so I had to go and purchase some of the Pu'er tea to enjoy as I finished the novel. This is a novel that I will read again! Well developed plot and characters. Interesting setting. Enjoyable read!

This was going to be my first read of 2019 but the download is no longer on my Kindle. I'm going to rate it 4 stars based on reviews on amazon.

Fascinating and lovely. A provocative look at a culture I knew nothing about previously -- but most of all, a touching story of a woman whose life changes dramatically and the power of family bonds and traditions.

The information about tea can at times overload the story of a village girl in China and her life from there to America as an adult. Almost an anthropological study of a Chinese minority and their evolution through tea. A matriarchal society, with a strong emphasis on culture. The story delves into nature and science of tea and the meaning of motherhood while it follows the history and progress of China. See manages to make the tea aspect work while engaging in some coincidental occurrences to come full circle.

Copy provided by the Publisher and NetGalley

RATING: 4 STARS

(I received an ARC from the NETGALLEY​)​
(Review Not on Blog)
Listened to on Audio

When I read an ARC of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan I was immersed in the book until I finished. The time, place and cultural was so rich and detailed I felt like I was there and feeling all teh emotions. I then read Peony in Love and I was disappointed. I don't know if my expectations were too high but it the story fell a bit flat for me. Since then, I have not gone back to Lisa See's books. When I read historical fiction, I prefer North American or Europe as those were my concentrations in History. The cover and story interested me with The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane so I thought this would be a good one to dip my feet back with. I finished one of my audiobooks quicker than I thought so when I saw this was available at the eLibrary I knew it was meant to be.

My family is from Northern India, from a village, and most of my stories came from my maternal grandmother and mother. My dad came here when he was young so he only remembers Canada. It wasn't until I went in 1989-1990 that the village life my mom was born into became a reality. The fact I went four months without indoor pluming has scarred me from camping for life. I always find my Indian background fascinating and I am proud of being Indian but it is also a bit removed from me as I grew up in Canada, and is 90% of my "culture". When I dream of my wedding dress for walking down the aisle it is white, rather than red. This long story is what emotions and thoughts that came up for me reading this novel.

See captured my imagination and the details had me thrust into the time and place. The Akha culture was so fascinating -in that we get the meaning behind some of their traditions. My favourite part of the story was the tea history, and the coming-of-age story of Li-yan . It was also interesting to see what happens to her child and her child's new family, and others like her. Anne Tyler's novel Digging to America touches on the subject of adoptions from China, but from the adoptive parent's pov. It was nice to get more of a birth mother's story. While we know about the one-child policy it was interesting to see the other factors. I really felt for Hailey, Li-Yan's daughter, and her struggle to find her place. While she loves her parents and her life there is the fact she doesn't know her birth family, the cultural she belongs to and being an outsider as she does not look like her parents. That cultural divide brought up a lot for me even though both my parents are Indian and I'm not adopted. I just found that See handled all the elements so well. I think no matter how See ended this book it would be problematic for readers - whether Li-yan finds her daughter and what becomes of reunion or never finding each other.

I would recommend this one to any book lovers!

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane explores the world I am totally unfamiliar with - an ethnic minority in China the Akha. While the story includes history about the Chinese and pu’erh tea, the main thread was the woman and her lost child. This story's themes are strong women, overcoming hardships, and fate. It is crazy how societal and cultural shifts can change the outcome of someone's life. I wished there was more in the final chapters of the book, so I could see others' reactions to the mother/daughter reunion. This story was a bit of a tearjerker, even if sometimes predictable.

An amazing multi-layered book that made for a terrific book discussion with our group. Many themes to explore. I don't think I'll ever get the "twin"scene out of my head. It is one of those most poignant of literary scenes that leaves an indelible mark.

Love this book we also read it for book club and found it very fascinating. Lisa See is one of those authors that transports you into her book no matter the time period. I look forward to reading what she comes up with next!

Spanning almost three decades from 1988 to 2016 The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See was a truly lovely novel and one I'm tremendously pleased to have finally read.    In her Acknowlegements she stated " Every detail matters to me, and I try to be as accurate as possible."    This much I had already figured for myself but seeing her extensive list of resources and huge number of contacts really drove that point home.      As I write this review and think back over what I've read I'm beginning to realise I liked it even more than I first thought.   

Li-yan belongs to the Akha people, an ethnic minority in rural and remote China.   She's ten when we first meet her and her tea farming family.     They are desperately poor but incredibly dedicated to their cultural traditions, many of which I was in shock reading about yet Lisa See ensured I wasn't judgemental.  Her writing helped me walk the proverbial mile in the Akha people's shoes.    She opened my eyes to the intracacies of tea, something I could not have believed would interest me.  Who knew there was so much to know about tea or that it was attributed with a whole array of healing powers, or that it was such a valuable and highly traded commodity.    Well that sounds boring!   It wasn't though.    Far from it.    The tea growing, making, tasting, medicinal uses and trading was an interesting backdrop to a beautiful story of family.    This was a coming of age story, one of finding, losing and eventually rediscovering love.   It shared both sides of the adoption story, not only  the heartache of giving up a child for adoption but the dual emotions of gratitude and anger assiciated with being adopted  by an American couple.   It was a story of cross cultural differences, trust, friendships and so much more.     As I turned that final page there was absolutely no doubt in my mind I wanted more of this story yet Lisa See in her wisdom delivered just enough for me to know what happened and left me to my imaginings about how things played out from there.     This book was so very well done from beginning to end.

Thanks so much to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the opportunity of reading this delightful book.

What an exquisite story. A small tribe of people - Akha in China have their own customs and laws and from page one the reader is enveloped in how they see the world and what customs they uphold. This epic story centers around Li-yan as she grows up and then has to become her own woman without the tribe that she has grown to depend on. She will buck customs and make mistakes, but from page one you, the reader, are rooting for her every step of the way.

I read this book for book club and it garnered more than two hours worth of discussion and although none of us are Chinese, the author presents such a full story of these people that we all felt educated after reading it. I have said this before in other reviews, but my favorite part of reading is learning about something that I know nothing about and after reading this book, I felt as though I had a full indepth class in a subset of Chinese culture.