A story steeped in tradition

tea with an unusual label.

The hardships that confront Li-yan in her life are as compelling as the fogshrouded secret groves where she and her mother cultivate a special healing tea. I could have hung out here in remote China forever, but See has wider ground to cover, including Chinese adoption, the international fine tea market and modern Chinese migration to the United States.

It is harder to write with empathy about rich people, and as the story takes its biggest leap — from rural China to wealthy Los Angeles — I did chortle at the line “Three days later I’m in Beverly Hills having dinner in a restaurant called Spago.” But it is a testament to See’s ability as a writer and to her impeccable research that she commands our attention again immediately. “I’m still struggling with how to use a knife and fork,” says Li-yan, who eschews eating in fancy restaurants Lisa See’s Tea Girl balances moving on with coming home. for shopping in Chinese markets and cooking for her husband like a proper Chinese wife.

As Li-yan struggles to fit in with the newly arrived Han majority Chinese millionaires in Pasadena, her story circles closer to Haley’s. Li-yan hangs Han New Year decorations and accepts an American name. Meanwhile, Haley, now in high school, must deal with being Chinese among white friends and yet “not Chinese enough” for the Han Chinese.

She struggles with the pressures of being both an abandoned orphan and an adopted child treated as precious by her white parents. “Lucky but angry” is the phrase her therapist uses, and through transcripts of a group-therapy session with several adoptees, See provides a blistering peek into their complicated emotions.

Just as properly aged tea from ancient trees has both flavour and a “returning taste,” so this story balances moving on with returning home. Both Li-yan and Haley must ultimately reconcile where they come from with who they are now, and they must compromise with the flaws of family and tradition if they wish to reclaim their roots. A lush tale infused with clear-eyed compassion, this novel will inspire reflection, discussion and an overwhelming desire to drink rare Chinese tea.