A Thread of Sky: A Novel

By Deanna Fei

Book Overview

Looking to reconnect with their ancestral home and with one another, three generations of women tour mainland China on a journey that will change their family forever. A stunning debut, A Thread of Sky is the story of a family of women and the powerful thread that binds their lives. In following the paths chosen by six fiercely independent women, A Thread of Sky explores the terrain we must travel to recognize the strength and vulnerability of those closest to us. When her husband of thirty years is killed in a devastating accident, Irene Shen and her three daughters are set adrift. Nora, the eldest, retreats into her high-powered New York job and a troubled relationship. Kay, the headstrong middle child, escapes to China to learn the language and heritage of her parents. Sophie, the sensitive and artistic youngest, is trapped at home until college, increasingly estranged from her family-and herself. Terrified of being left alone with her grief, Irene plans a tour of mainland China's must sees, reuniting three generations of women-her three daughters, her distant poet sister, and her formidable eighty-year-old mother-in a desperate attempt to heal her fractured family. If only it was so easy. Each woman arrives bearing secrets big and small, and as they travel-visiting untouched sections of the Great Wall and the seedy bars of Shanghai, the beautiful ancient temples and cold, modern shopping emporiums-they begin to wonder if they will ever find the China they seek, the one their family fled long ago. Over days and miles they slowly find their way toward a new understanding of themselves, of one another, and of the vast complexity of their homeland, only to have their new bonds tested as never before when the darkest, most carefully guarded secret of all tumbles to the surface and threatens to tear their family apart forever. A Thread of Sky is a beautifully written and deeply haunting story about love and sacrifice, history and memory, sisterhood and motherhood, and the connections that endure.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1594202494
• ISBN13: 9781594202490
• Release Date: April 2010
• Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.2" x 6.4"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher

Customer Reviews

A Joy to Read

A Thread of Sky is a rare emotional treat. Each character is so distinctively and lovingly drawn, each conflict so fraught with raw, real emotion, and each sentence so elegantly crafted, that I could not put this book down.

A great read!

The reason to read this book is the author's wise and big-hearted understanding of her characters. Readers can rely on such a benevolent and unflinching intelligence as their guide though the intersection of social currents, history, time, space, and the private life of one family. The triptych structure of the book (The Astronomers, The Constellations, The Stars) suggests that these human bumblings have a connection to the cosmic, and A Thread of Sky delivers. Fei crystallizes into language and narrative the paradoxical desires for solitude and connection: in this family, their love for one another is often inadequate and at the same time too much to bear. Their story is told with attitude and wit: "Shame was productive, though; it spurred her to do better," the binging and purging youngest sister thinks to herself as she considers her artistic creations. This novel is heart-breaking and brilliantly put together and certainly worth your time as a reader.

Lovely and intelligent

I read this book in about three days and that's saying something since I had children! I really enjoyed it and immediately wished there was a sequel. My favorite novels are those that I learn something from and this is a book that both illuminates and entertains through beautiful writing. Fei manages to combine sociology, history, women's studies, and rich character development to create a unique but extremely accessible story with a lot of depth and intelligence. At times heart wrenching, Fei has an amazing ability to see the world through the eyes of women of a variety of ages, personalities and experiences. I frequently found myself admiring how incredibly authentic all of her characters feel. In her first novel, Fei is already showing what an insightful and compelling writer she is. Can't wait for more!

This novel is breathtaking and brilliant

Ever since high school American lit classes, I've searched for texts that speak deeply of diaspora, womanhood, and strength - ideas that I felt shaped my life as a young Asian American. I set out wanting inspiration and a contemporary edge in my stories; I wanted to be rocked by great writing. Deanna Fei's A THREAD OF SKY is all that and more. This book had me missing subway stops and staying up late to read, unable to let go of the characters and unwilling to part with the emotional universe of their lives. Fei's prose is sharply beautiful and alive, packed with lines so powerful they make you catch your breath, then look for someone with whom you can share. Here's a story that can illuminate questions, connections, and truths in any reader's experience. It had me thinking, excitedly: this is life, this is love, this is art. Get this book!! A THREAD OF SKY will sweep you away.

Lyrical, compelling, must-read debut

With her debut novel, A THREAD OF SKY, Deanna Fei serves notice that she is one of the powerful, unique voices emerging on the literary scene. This is literary fiction at its best, the engaging story of three generations of Chinese-American women who take a trip to China, along the way confronting issues of cultural identity, the gnawing presence of history, and the complexities of family. The characters are textured, nuanced, sympathetic and vividly developed. Fei's prose is lyrical, surprising, full of poetic images, sharp, sometimes funny, and always sincere. This is a moving, wonderful book that should be of interest to all who appreciate fine fiction. It is a book about mothers and daughters, identity, war and dislocation, modern Chinese history, and the secrets that every family carries and confronts in the present day. A first-rate book that will surely endure.