Review: My
Half of the Sky
"Lyrical is the only word for Jana McBurney-Lin's prose, yet it's her heroine Li Hui who captures your heart.
McBurney-Lin's novel, My Half of the Sky is a masterpiece of subtlety, insight and drama so finely wrought you become immersed in her story without realizing it. Unlike books that clatter along like rickety roller coasters, looking for cheap laughs or dreadful discoveries, McBurney-Lin maintains a graceful, measured pace. Indeed, this pace feels like the beating heart of her heroine.
It is impossible not to like Li Hui, for her integrity and wholesomeness are absolute. She is a woman of modern China, yet forced to live a prescribed existence. She is more intelligent and educated than her family and friends, yet scorned by them. She suffers under her father's rule, yet flies free in the end."
Kathleen Grant Geib
Staff Writer, The Oakland Tribune, Oakland, CA
"I nominate My Half of the Sky by Jana McBurney-Lin as a [BookSense] August best pick. Your heart will tear apart right along with Li Hui's as she struggles to 'hold up her half of the sky' while being a respectful and dutiful daughter.
Though Li Hui's culture is quite different from ours, family issues are universal, even when they play out under cultural restraints. This is a powerful coming of age story. Readers will cheer Li Hui on and hope she finds her way.
I'll be hand-selling this book to romantics, explorers, and reading groups. It is a powerful and moving novel. (And I'm ready for the sequel -- what happens now?)"
Keri Holmes
Bookseller, The Kaleidoscope: Our Focus is You, Hampton, IA
"This novel of modern China captures the inner life of a culture foreign to the ways of thought of the contemporary West. Readers will find themselves immersed in a fascinating world and story."
Richard Cook
Owner, Sunrise Bookstore, Berkeley, CA
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