Book Review Women of the Silk By: Gail Tsukiyama Reviewed by: William Chen Women of the Silk is pretty much what the title implies: a book about women who do silk work in early 19th century China. However, the title is the only aspect of the novel which I find to be not misleading. Considering the deprived role of women in society during this time period, I was expecting a shocking account of the hardships and cruel working conditions of silk work. Strangely enough, the book rarely mentions suffering. Pei, the main character, is sent by her father to work at a silk factory at a young age after a fortuneteller deemed her non-marrying. She finds the factory to be an ideal environment, where all the girls from similar backgrounds develop strong bonds with each other and unwonted independence is found. As she grows up in the factory, she learns about the familial responsibilities of women and the limited individual choices they have. But through the overly optimistic viewpoint of Pei, which Tsukiyama vainly attempts to assuage with the addition of deaths and funerals, I can hardly envision the difficulties of being a female silk worker. Though the premise seems promising, the numerous flaws of the book make it difficult to enjoy. Tsukiyama narration fails to instigate an emotional response for me. It almost seems as if she is dictating feelings instead of portraying genuine situations. For example: "The first few months were miserable for Pei. She missed her family terribly. Sometimes, after everyone was asleep, she let her tears flow freely, her face pressed into her pillow. She often fell asleep exhausted by grief" (52). The usage of multiple generalized, simple statements to describe Pei s thoughts and actions simply bore the reader with lack of variety rather than create emotion. Phrases such as missed her family terribly simply cannot express the grief that Pei must be going through after being abandoned; even a girl on a

short field trip can admit to missing her family, yet the two circumstances are different entirely. I find it difficult to pity Pei in this passage because her sadness is a clich and applicable to any person. If there was a situation that applied specifically to Pei to explain the degree of sadness she felt, then the passage would have been more heartfelt. Instead, the passages are bland, a problem exacerbated by the constant bias. The bias in this book is all too evident. Tsukiyama glorifies the women while portraying the men as enemies. This dramatized gender difference makes it difficult to let readers form their own opinions, since the narration is one-sided. Auntie Yee is an understanding and humane woman who runs a home for the silk workers, while factory owner Chung is villainous and uncaring about the working conditions. Pei s mother Yu Sung is regretful of sending Pei to the silk factory, while Pei s father Pao is silent as he hands over Pei to work at the factory. These direct contrasts throughout the book makes it seem as if the females are the victims of the males. Specifically, when Pei s cheerful friend Mei-li announces to Hong that she loves him, Hong responds condescendingly, saying No one has to know anything; it will only cause trouble (69). Mei-li has been very loyal to Hong, only to be torn apart by his indifference towards her. Hong thinks of Mei-li as trouble , a tool for making love yet a burden outside of that. The reader is pretty much forced to side with Mei-li in this relationship, since she is depicted as a victim of Hong s selfishness. I think this kind of narration is disrespectful to the reader because it stresses female empowerment to the point that males are not well represented. Not only is this unrealistic, but also offensive to the male audience. A book based on a historical time period should try to keep bias at a minimum and focus more on accurate personalities of the time period. Overall, Women of the Silk was a disaster for me. The vocabulary is comparable to that of a 5th grader and the descriptions go as far as describing the people from the village as village people . A promising plot was ruined by the lifeless and biased narration. If you did not enjoy the title to this

review, I would recommend that you avoid this book. The title is just as boring, straightforward, and uncreative as the book.