The Color of Air: A Novel

PARADE's Best Books to Read this Summer "A rich historical novel that illustrates why connection is more important and more vital than ever." -New York Times bestselling author Lisa See Daniel Abe, a young doctor in Chicago, is finally coming back to Hawai'i. He has his own reason for returning to his childhood home, but it is not to revisit the past, unlike his Uncle Koji. Koji lives with the memories of Daniel's mother, Mariko, the love of his life, and the scars of a life hard-lived. He can't wait to see Daniel, who he's always thought of as a son, but he knows the time has come to tell him the truth about his mother, and his father. But Daniel's arrival coincides with the awakening of the Mauna Loa volcano, and its dangerous path toward their village stirs both new and long ago passions in their community. Alternating between past and present--from the day of the volcano eruption in 1935 to decades prior--The Color of Air interweaves the stories of Daniel, Koji, and Mariko to create a rich, vibrant, bittersweet chorus that celebrates their lifelong bond to one other and to their immigrant community. As Mauna Loa threatens their lives and livelihoods, it also unearths long held secrets simmering below the surface that meld past and present, revealing a path forward for them all.

Literature & Fiction

TSUKIYAMA, GAIL

United States

HarperVia

Product Description 
PARADE’s Best Books to Read this Summer 
"A rich historical novel that illustrates why connection is more important and more vital than ever.” -New York Times bestselling author Lisa See 
Daniel Abe, a young doctor in Chicago, is finally coming back to Hawai'i. He has his own reason for returning to his childhood home, but it is not to revisit the past, unlike his Uncle Koji. Koji lives with the memories of Daniel’s mother, Mariko, the love of his life, and the scars of a life hard-lived. He can’t wait to see Daniel, who he’s always thought of as a son, but he knows the time has come to tell him the truth about his mother, and his father. But Daniel’s arrival coincides with the awakening of the Mauna Loa volcano, and its dangerous path toward their village stirs both new and long ago passions in their community. 
Alternating between past and present—from the day of the volcano eruption in 1935 to decades prior—The Color of Air interweaves the stories of Daniel, Koji, and Mariko to create a rich, vibrant, bittersweet chorus that celebrates their lifelong bond to one other and to their immigrant community. As Mauna Loa threatens their lives and livelihoods, it also unearths long held secrets simmering below the surface that meld past and present, revealing a path forward for them all.\nReview 
“Lushly written, this is a story of family ties, immigration, resilience and home.” -- Ms. magazine\n“The Color of Air is quintessential Tsukiyama, generous in spirit, gorgeously written, and full of secrets and surprises. Every character in this ensemble novel is as compelling and appealing as the next and together they lead the reader into the beating heart of this tight-knit community. A stupendous work.” -- Karen Joy Fowler, 
New York Times bestselling author of 
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves and Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award \n"With a piercing and authentic sense of place, Gail Tsukiyama brings to life a group of ordinary Japanese/Hawaiians with intertwined lives that are filled with love, passion, empathy, wisdom, and joy. Life is hard, but it is not hopeless and in the shadow of the volcano Mauna Loa, unforgettable individuals--drawn by the author with tenderness and in vivid detail--contend with the pain and confusion of the past and the fleeting moments of happiness in the present, letting go of both pain and fear in order to meet the future." -- Elizabeth George, #1 
New York Times bestselling author\n"In The Color of Air, Tsukiyama has created a community with characters who meet difficulties and persist with grace and endurance; whose dependence on one another is, in fact, their greatest strength. A rich historical novel that illustrates why connection is more important and more vital than ever.” -- 
Lisa See, New York Times bestselling author of The Island of Sea Women and The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane\n“Tsukiyama’s beautiful telling of an island son’s homecoming had me under a spell to the last page. 
The Color of Air pulls you in gently and takes you deep.” 
 -- Nancy Horan, 
New York Times bestselling author of 
Loving Frank and 
Under the Wide and Starry Sky\n“Through tragedy and joy, Tsukiyama crafts characters whose reliance on each other is their greatest strength, with many strong women leading the way. The dialogue flows easily, and the landscape is rendered with such vibrance that the reader will become fully immersed in the sensory details. Well-paced and lush, this is a captivating historical novel that shows the power of love and human resilience.” -- 
Kirkus Reviews 
(starred review)\n“Writing with supple and entrancing grace, Tsukiyama has each of her caring, charismatic characters share their memories and heartaches…..Tsukiyama also evokes the wild, opulent beauty of the island, the harsh lives of migrant workers, racist and domestic violence, mystical connections, the repercussions of a love triangle, and the tolls of age. As the volcano erupts, long buried secrets

The Brightest Star: A Historical Novel Based on the True Story of Anna May Wong

A LIBRARYREADS PICK AND BEST BOOK CLUB PICK OF 2023. The beloved bestselling author of The Color of Air, Women of the Silk, and The Samurai's Garden returns with this magnificent historical novel based on the life of the luminous, groundbreaking actress Anna May Wong--the first and only Asian American woman to gain movie stardom in the early days of Hollywood. At the dawn of a new century, America is falling in love with silent movies, including young Wong Liu Tsong. The daughter of Chinese immigrants who own a laundry, Wong Liu and her older sister Lew Ying (Lulu) are taunted and bullied for their Chinese heritage. But while Lulu diligently obeys her parents and learns to speak Chinese, Wong Liu sneaks away to the local nickelodeons, buying a ticket with her lunch money and tips saved from laundry deliveries. By eleven Wong Liu is determined to become an actress and has already chosen a stage name: Anna May Wong. At sixteen, Anna May leaves high school to pursue her Hollywood dreams, defying her disapproving father and her Chinese traditional upbringing--a choice that will hold emotional and physical consequences. After a series of nothing parts, nineteen-year-old Anna May gets her big break--and her first taste of Hollywood fame--starring opposite Douglas Fairbanks in The Thief of Bagdad. Yet her beauty and talent isn't enough to overcome the racism that relegates her to supporting roles as a helpless, exotic butterfly or a vicious, murderous dragon lady while Caucasian actresses in yellowface" are given starring roles portraying Asian women. Though she suffers professionally and personally, Anna May fights to win lead roles, accept risqué parts, financially support her family, and keep her illicit love affairs hidden--even as she finds freedom and glittering stardom abroad, and receives glowing reviews across the globe. Powerful, poignant, and imbued with Gail Tsukiyama's warmth and empathy, The Brightest Star reimagines the life of the first Asian American screen star whose legacy endures--a remarkable and inspiring woman who broke barriers and became a shining light in Hollywood history.

Sent by her family to work in a silk factory just prior to World War II, young Pei grows to womanhood, working fifteen-hour days and sending her pay to the family who abandoned her

Women of the Silk

St Martins Pr

In Women of the Silk Gail Tsukiyama takes her readers back to rural China in 1926, where a group of women forge a sisterhood amidst the reeling machines that reverberate and clamor in a vast silk factory from dawn to dusk. Leading the first strike the village has ever seen, the young women use the strength of their ambition, dreams, and friendship to achieve the freedom they could never have hoped for on their own. Tsukiyama's graceful prose weaves the details of "the silk work" and Chinese village life into a story of courage and strength.

Women of the Silk: A Novel

St. Martin's: Griffin

Shortly before World War II, a Chinese man, sent to Japan to recover from tuberculosis, meets a lovely Japanese girl and four older residents, beginning a love story abrim with passion and sacrifice. By the author of Women of the Silk.

The Samurai's Garden

The daughter of a Chinese mother and a Japanese father, Tsukiyama uses the Japanese invasion of China during the late 1930s as a somber backdrop for her unusual story about a 20-year-old Chinese painter named Stephen who is sent to his family's summer home in a Japanese coastal village to recover from a bout with tuberculosis. Here he is cared for by Matsu, a reticent housekeeper and a master gardener. Over the course of a remarkable year, Stephen learns Matsu's secret and gains not only physical strength, but also profound spiritual insight. Matsu is a samurai of the soul, a man devoted to doing good and finding beauty in a cruel and arbitrary world, and Stephen is a noble student, learning to appreciate Matsu's generous and nurturing way of life and to love Matsu's soulmate, gentle Sachi, a woman afflicted with leprosy.

The Samurai's Garden: A Novel

After living through World War II with their parents in Macao, Joan and Emma Lew embark on separate quests to fulfill their disparate dreams, only to return home to their family during times of great sorrow and happiness. By the author of Women of the Silk. Tour.

Night of Many Dreams

As World War II threatens their comfortable life in Hong Kong, young Joan and Emma Lew escape with their family to spend the war years in Macao. When they return home, Emma develops a deep interest in travel and sets her sights on an artistic life in San Francisco, while Joan turns to movies and thoughts of romance to escape the pressures of her real life. As the girls become women, each follows a path different from what her family expects. But through periods of great happiness and sorrow, the sisters learn that their complicated ties to each other--and to the other members of their close-knit family―are a source of strength as they pursue their separate dreams.

Night of Many Dreams: A Novel

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by TSUKIYAMA, GAIL. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by TSUKIYAMA, GAIL

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by TSUKIYAMA, GAIL. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Color of Air: A Novel

The Color of Air: A Novel

The Brightest Star: A Historical Novel Based on the True Story of Anna May Wong

The Brightest Star: A Historical Novel Based on the True Story of Anna May Wong

Women of the Silk

Women of the Silk: A Novel

The Samurai's Garden

The Samurai's Garden: A Novel

Night of Many Dreams

Night of Many Dreams: A Novel