Review: The Brightest Star (by Gail Tsukiyama)

My Rating:  2.5 stars



I had read Gail Tsukiyama's previous novel,The Color of Air, and absolutely loved it!  With that book, I was captivated by the beautiful, atmospheric writing as well as the emotionally poignant story that I sometimes still think about even now.  So of course, when I learned that Tsukiyama would have a new novel out — and it would be about one of the most important trailblazers for entertainers of Chinese descent in Hollywood, Anna May Wong — I was, of course, excited beyond words.  Not surprisingly, I had high expectations going into this one and was expecting to love it as much as I did Tsukiyama's previous work. Sadly, that didn't turn out to be the case, as this book ended up being a huge letdown.  My first thought when I finished this book was that it couldn't have been written by the same author as The Color of Air, as the writing style and execution here stood in such stark contrast, it honestly baffled me.  

One of the biggest problems I had with this book was the way that the story was told. Narrated from Anna May Wong's first person point of view, the story starts off in 1960, when Anna May is making a comeback from semi-retirement and is on a train across the country for a press tour to promote her latest film.  She brings with her a stack of notebooks where she has written down her life story and as she starts reading them on the train ride, the timeline switches to 1913, when Anna May is 8 years old.  From there, she takes us pretty much year-by-year through every aspect of her life, from when she was a child who would sneak off to watch movies, to her early days in Hollywood, to the height of her career and the last days of her life.  In the process, every single movie that Anna May had been in — whether as an extra or with a significant role — is covered in great detail (in addition to basic movie facts such as who the director was, the names of the cast members, where and when the movie premiered, the reactions from audiences and critics, etc., there were also details on how she got each part, what led up to it, how she was treated and how she felt, what the aftermath was, etc. etc.)  Normally, first person narrative wouldn't be a problem, but in this instance, the voice was incredibly stilted and devoid of emotion — to the point that I felt like I was reading a long-form Wikipedia entry of Anna May's life (except told in first person). Also, the way nearly every acting venture and personal milestone in Anna May's life was recounted chronologically, and in exhaustive detail, made the story feel repetitive and tedious — I felt like I was reading about the same things over and over and over again, just with different people involved (and sometimes in different cities).  I actually started to get bored about half way through the book and resorted to skimming whole sections so I could get to the end faster.

Another problem was that this story did not read like historical fiction at all.  While it was obvious that Tsukiyama did a lot of research on Anna May's life, the way the information was presented felt like I was reading a history book, which definitely did not work for me.  I hate to say it, but the lack of emotion and atmospheric nuance (which I expect in historical fiction) made it feel to me as though the author simply took all the notes she had, organized it chronologically, changed the voice to first person, put in a prologue and epilogue, and voila, a retrospective of Anna May's life in book format. 

To me, this book was a missed opportunity. Executed differently, this story had the potential to be a powerful expose of the entertainment industry and the way it treated/still treats people of color.  It also had the potential to be a moving story about a fascinating woman of color who struggled pretty much her entire career (and life) to gain acceptance into a notoriously misogynistic, biased, unforgiving industry — and the sacrifices she had to make in order to pave the way for other Asian entertainers who would come after.  Instead, we got a robotic, paint-by-numbers recounting of Anna May's life that lacked emotional depth — plus I felt like most of the information in this book, with the way it was presented, I could've gotten myself by spending a few hours searching the internet, which honestly adds to the disappointment.

Since I've enjoyed Tsukiyama's previous works, I hope this book was an anomaly and that her next one will go back to the style that I'm used to seeing from her.  

Received ARC from HarperVia via NetGalley.

Review: The Color of Air (by Gail Tsukiyama)

My Rating:  5 stars

Gail Tsukiyama is an author I’ve been wanting to read for awhile.  I’ve had a copy of her most famous work, Women of the Silk, on my bookshelf for years, but unfortunately haven’t had the chance to read it yet.  Well, that might change now after reading her newest work The Color of Air, which I enjoyed to the point that I want to go back and explore her backlist while waiting impatiently for her next work.   

I love the way Tsukiyama writes — in a style that is quiet and gentle, yet the story still packs a punch.  With this book, Tsukiyama takes her time with the narrative — slowly, chapter by chapter, we learn about the Japanese-American family at the center of the narrative, but more than that, we also learn the stories of those around them, all members of the close-knit community in the town of Hilo, Hawaii.   Set against the historical context of the Mauna Loa volcano’s eruption in 1935, this event was woven beautifully into the story, with its juxtaposition against the return of the town’s beloved young doctor Daniel Abe and the secrets that slowly come to light, both within the family and in the community.  A sense of anticipation permeates the story — both in terms of the aftermath of the eruption (the question of the lava flow’s direction and what will happen to those in its path) as well as the revelation of long-held secrets within the family and the community —and we are left to wonder, as the story progresses, what the path forward will be for all the characters.   From a historical perspective, Tsukiyama also weaves into her narrative the lesser known history of Asian indentured servitude on Hawaii’s sugar plantations.  Uncle Koji’s story of how his family arrived in Hawaii from Japan as contracted immigrant workers on the plantations -- a stint that was only supposed to last 3 years but turned into a lifetime.  Related to this, there is also Razor’s story and what happened to him as one of the workers on the plantations, snippets of which are shared through Koji’s memories of his best friend, but also through Razor’s own “voice” at the end of some of the sections.   The way that the past and present blended together so seamlessly, this worked well from a narrative structure perspective.

Speaking of the characters, this was one of those rare instances where I loved the entire cast of characters, whether major or minor.  Each character was unforgettable and grew fonder to me with the progression of the story from one chapter to another and all the way through to the end.  Daniel, Koji, Samuel, Wilson and Mano, all were great characters, but the ones that left the biggest impression on me were the women in the story – Mariko, Nori, Mama Natua, Maile, Leia, the Hilo Aunties.  I was moved by the strong bond that they all shared – an unbreakable bond that continued to endure not only through all of life’s ups and downs, but also was strong enough to even transcend death.  One of the unique aspects of Tsukiyama’s storytelling is her ability to portray all her characters with such tenderness and compassion.  These are characters who endure a lot, plus there are the complicated family dynamics, the conflicts, the drama that inevitably follows, yet the underlying message of hope and resilience is so strong.   At its core, this is also an immigrant story, but one that is lovingly told as well as rooted in hope from the getgo. 

I enjoyed everything about this book, from the characters, the story, and of course, the incredibly atmospheric writing.  The lush descriptions of the island’s landscape, as well as its history and people, gave such a tremendous sense of time and place – to the point that the setting came alive almost as though it were a character itself.  Loved this one and definitely recommend it!

Received ARC from HarperCollins (HarperVia) via NetGalley.