Four Treasures of the Sky: The compelling debut about identity and belonging in the 1880s American West

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The spirit acts as a materialisation of what our heroine believed was only her, of what she believed was now only hers to suffer through: the cruel fate married to this name. I had to take off 2 stars because of the unrelenting violence and threats of rape that the main character experiences. My favorite aspects of the novel are Zhang’s incredible phrasing and poetic languages and the musings on art and creation. Daiyu is sure to take her place in the canon of great Western heroines next to True Grit's Mattie Ross. forced to do hard labor work, forced to learn English, forced into sexual coercion > all these really awful things….

My reason for picking it up was to learn more about the Chinese Exclusion Act, but what kept me reading was this layered story that tugged at my heart start to finish!The author's fine attention to historical and human detail has allowed her to bring alive a heroine for the ages, an indomitable teenage girl whose relentless spirit and self-reinvention carries this story. Daiyu is also dragged into the sex trade and this form of abuse is focused on in the beginning half of the book. This is a novel of important lessons and voices though, the tone of it for me felt it could have leaned into its own darkness more instead of seeming uncertain which tone to take. Something about the man’s hand on my shoulder, the calm heat of it, tells me that if I do, we will never leave this place. The characters are fully developed, the world building complete, the recurring themes consistent and important.

While the story could almost feel exploitative in lesser hands, Zhang’s writing never makes it feel that way. Four Treasures of the sky gives a voice to those whose story has been taken away- rewritten and revised. Shipped to America to be sold to a brothel, Daiyu’s destiny is once again indisputable and devastating. Fierce and moving…Zhang delves into the history of violence and prejudice against Chinese people in the U. Lots of description about violence towards Chinese in the 19th century US without much context or some elaboration about the reasons.The Page Act of 1875, which preceded the Chinese Exclusion Act and prohibited the entry of Chinese women into the United States is also mentioned. The side characters involved are written richly and create a great sense of a real community which is facing such deep opposition to their very existence. A book to sit alongside Yaa Gyasi's Homecoming and Anna North's Outlawed, this is a powerful tale of reclamation, spun with soul by a remarkable new talent - Lauren Puckett, Shelf Awareness You may also be interested in. No, the artist must master the art of releasing the brush, giving it the space and freedom to find itself again.

That being said I think this is going to be a hit with those that don't mind young adult material and also prefer a more gentle, full of emotions story. There is a lot of telling at the expense of showing, particularly when it is making a point it wants you to know is about something bad (it does not tip into trauma porn though, but readers seeking content warnings should be advised violence and sexual assault are frequent) and many aspects felt overworked. Jenny Tinghui Zhang is a fresh and necessary voice, with a powerful prose subverting the idea of novels of the Wild West and delivering a wonderful and dynamic heroine for us to follow and root for.Four Treasures of the Sky" by debut author Jenny Tinghi Zhang is a powerful, eye-opening work of historical fiction which highlights a little known chapter in American history. When I am kidnapped, I am thirteen and standing in the middle of the Zhifu fish market on Beach Road, watching a fleshy woman assemble white fish the shape of spades into a pile.