Do Not Say We Have Nothing

Starred review from July 11, 2016
In Thien's luminescent third novel (following Dogs at the Perimeter, which won the Frankfurt Book Fair's 2015 LiBeraturpreis), stories, music, and mathematics weave together to tell one family's tale within the unfolding of recent Chinese history. Beginning in 1989 in Hong Kong and Vancouver, this narrative snakes both forward and backward, describing how a pair of sisters survived land reform, re-education at the hands of the Communists, the coming of the Red Guard, the Cultural Revolution, and the protests at Tiananmen square. The story is partially told by the central character, mathematics professor Marie Jiang (Jiang Li-ling), as she discovers her late father's past as a pianist, which was left behind and concealed when he left China for Canada. Thien takes readers into the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, where Marie's father studied with composer Sparrow and violinist Zhuli in the midst of the cultural upheaval in the 1960s. Filled with intrigue, shifting loyalties, broken families, and unbroken resistance, this novel is beautifully poetic and as carefully constructed as the Bach sonatas that make frequent appearance in the text. Thien's reachâthough epic âdoes not extend beyond her capacity, resulting in a lovely fugue of a book that meditates on fascism, resistance, and personhood. Agent: Sarah Chalfant, Wylie Agency.

This audiobook marries a haunting, compelling story and a memorable performance by its narrator. Angela Lin reads with assurance, confidence, and a gentleness that captures the mood of the story. Lin has a thin, high voice, and she uses it to set the scene in China. The timeframe alternates between the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and the present, and Lin guides listeners through the emotions that churned during those tumultuous years. Lin also uses her impeccable Chinese language skills to pronounce the names and keywords that dot the text, lending credibility and atmosphere to this lyrical audiobook. R.I.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine