Chinese Memories

In the 1970s and '80s, girls and boys in China are not allowed to remain children long. For Morning Feather, life during the Cultural Revolution involves constant sacrifice. Even milk is rationed, as she finds out when she steals her baby sister's portion, sending the household into an uproar. Despite the huge societal changes occurring around her, Morning Feather focuses on things girls her age care about: her beloved cat, Gray-Gray, who suffers a violent death; her precious, mulberry-eating silkworms; Ray, the classmate she has a crush on... Ray always makes Morning Feather's heart skip a beat. She is heartbroken when Ray drops out of school to work at the local cement factory-at the age of thirteen! Decades later, Morning Feather encounters Ray again in an unexpected setting. Now a corporate attorney in the United States, she's agreed to assist her uncle in defeating a lawsuit in Beijing. When she returns to China as promised, she finds herself facing off against her first true love. Readers who enjoy stories about bygone times and different cultures will relish this quiet tale of a bittersweet homecoming.