A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK - A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
EDITOR'S CHOICE - REVIEWED ON THE FRONT COVER - INTERNATIONAL
BESTSELLER
"Zhang's blend of history and magical realism will appeal to fans of
Ta-Nehisi Coates' The Water Dancer as well as Amy Tan's The Valley of
Amazement." --Booklist (starred review)
**
"Engrossing...Epic" (The New York Times Book Review) - "Transporting"
(Washington Post) - "Propulsive" (Oprah Daily) - "Surreal and
sprawling" (NPR) - "An absolute must-read" (BuzzFeed) - "Radiant"
(BookPage)
**
A dazzling debut novel set against the backdrop of the Chinese
Exclusion Act, about a Chinese girl fighting to claim her place in the
1880s American West
Daiyu never wanted to be like the tragic heroine for whom she was named,
revered for her beauty and cursed with heartbreak. But when she is
kidnapped and smuggled across an ocean from China to America, Daiyu must
relinquish the home and future she imagined for herself. Over the years
that follow, she is forced to keep reinventing herself to survive. From
a calligraphy school, to a San Francisco brothel, to a shop tucked into
the Idaho mountains, we follow Daiyu on a desperate quest to outrun the
tragedy that chases her. As anti-Chinese sentiment sweeps across the
country in a wave of unimaginable violence, Daiyu must draw on each of
the selves she has been--including the ones she most wants to leave
behind--in order to finally claim her own name and story.
At once a literary tour de force and a groundbreaking work of historical
fiction, Four Treasures of the Sky announces Jenny Tinghui Zhang as an
indelible new voice. Steeped in untold history and Chinese folklore,
this novel is a spellbinding feat.
