Introduction

"This is one of those rare novels that delivers on the promise of its opening pages... No smart woman should leave on vacation without it." -ChicagoTribune.com

When her husband of thirty years is killed, Irene Shen and her three daughters are set adrift. In a desperate attempt to heal her fractured family, Irene plans a tour of mainland China, reuniting three generations of women-her fiercely independent daughters, her distant poet sister, and her formidable eighty-year-old mother. But each woman bears secrets big and small, and just as they begin to reconnect, the most carefully guarded secret of all threatens to tear them apart forever. Depicting a China at once timeless and ever changing, A Thread of Sky is a beautifully written story of love and sacrifice, history and memory, sisterhood and motherhood, and the connections that endure.

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Excerpt

“I have an idea,” Irene said, and her own words seemed to string themselves together and hang in the air. “A reunion, not just a visit. China, the mainland—a tour. You, me, the girls. This summer.” It was impossible. They were all too self-reliant, too far-flung, and Irene couldn’t pull them together; she needed more weight. “And Ma.”

“Ma?” her sister said. “You want to vacation with Ma?”

“The past is the past. She’s turning eighty this year. We have to celebrate somehow.”

“We never have before.”

“But eighty is a big deal. And really it’ll be for all of us. Just us girls. It’ll be fun.” Like something she’d seen on TV. Women laughing over jewel-colored drinks. Women sharing deodorants and secrets, caressed by chiffon and a breeze.

“China isn’t known for fun.”

“We should see for ourselves,” Irene said.

China was the regime that had run their family out more than fifty years ago. China was Red Guards, starving masses, rolling tanks. China was men licentious like her father, women embittered like her mother. But what had Irene really seen? Like anyone else, the headlines: China had reformed, kaifang, opened up. Hanging peppy banners over its grimmer features and proclaiming itself open for business.

Never mind the headlines. America was Meiguo, the beautiful country—but China at heart was still Zhongguo: the central nation, the origin of everything from paper to pasta, the archetypal birthplace. This Irene had always known, without having to look.

She said, “Don’t worry. I’ll plan everything. I’ll start tomorrow—New Year’s Day!” Before her sister could argue, Irene hung up.

The stillness of the house now felt different—a note of anticipation amid all the absence.

Perhaps her only legacy would be that she’d given her daughters what she’d never had: a home. They considered it their birthright, like clean water, fresh air, a stable society, citizenship of a country utterly safe from invasion. Now her daughters were taking off, as of course they should—but grief had skewed their trajectory. They were trying to leave it behind, to outdistance her, when what they all needed, now more than ever, was to be together.

Irene couldn’t bring their father back, but if she could gather them all for this tour, together they might recover a missing link. Not some notion of their laojia, their ancestral home—but a new understanding of an old truth, old as civilization itself. A truth about death and life, about generations, about permanence. Then, and perhaps only then, could she and her daughters come back home. Jia—family, house, home. In Chinese, it was all one word. view abbreviated excerpt only...

Discussion Questions

From the publisher:

1. One of Irene’s motivations for planning this tour of China is to recapture a more traditional definition of family: "Jia—family, house, home. In Chinese, it was all one word." Does she come close to succeeding? Is it possible to adapt this concept to modern life? How do you define family? What cultural traditions influence your definition?

2. In A THREAD OF SKY, this family reunion during a tour of China exposes long-simmering tensions and old, painful secrets. How does it compare with memorable family reunions of your own? How have those occasions changed your understanding of your loved ones?

3. Lin Yulan is fixated on the importance of leaving a legacy, an expectation she has passed onto her daughters and granddaughters. Do you agree with her? Was it an appropriate choice for Irene to give up her career? What if you knew that she was on the brink of a major breakthrough, one that would have saved millions of lives, when she got pregnant with Sophie? Would that change your opinion?

4. For Kay, at least in the beginning of the novel, China is all about suffering. She chooses the less comfortable dormitory. She thrives on immersing herself in social problems. Are her efforts misguided? In what ways is her work similar or different to Lin Yulan’s work earlier in her life? Is it appropriate for visitors to try and get involved in what they believe to be a cultural wrong even if the “victims” don’t want help? Have you ever engaged in similar types of activism? What challenges did you face?

5. The women in this family have felt considerable pressure to define themselves as strong, independent, ambitious women. What toll has this taken on their personal lives? How do you define a strong woman? Do you think it's possible to take that identity too far?

6. All six characters in A THREAD OF SKY set out on this journey with a multitude of hopes and expectations: to reconnect with one another, to remember family history, to leave heartbreak behind, to be transported by China’s famous sights, to find a moment to "simply be." What do you think will stay with them? What do you seek when you travel? What do you try to carry back home?

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