Unbound

July 1, 2020
Ting Lee has grown up within the confining walls of communism in 1970s Shanghai. Desperate to find connection and footing in the world, she is enchanted when her grandmother Mini comes to visit from America after being gone for decades. While Ting immediately is drawn to her charming, elegant grandmother, she is curious about her story of growing in Shanghai, a story that ends with Mini abandoning her daughter. As Mini tells the story, Ting begins to see the hardships, betrayals, and losses that defined her grandmother's life. This multigenerational story told from both Ting and Mini's perspectives paints a rich portrait of glamorous prewar Shanghai and the harsh reality Ting's family experiences during the Cultural Revolution. Brumfield's debut is a complex story that highlights the struggles between classes as well as racist practices against the Chinese by imperialist foreigners in their own country. Both protagonists are strong women who face difficult choices and choose to make their own ways even when the odds are stacked against them.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)