Four Treasures of the Sky

Jenny Tinghui Zhang's Four Treasures of the Sky is a beautifully written novel about a decidedly ugly period of United States history. This novel is set in Idaho during the 1800s.

Main character Daiyu's life does not go as planned. When she's a fairly young girl, her parents get arrested and her grandmother feels that it's safer for Daiyu to life as a boy in a large city rather than staying in their little fishing village. Life isn't easy on the street, but eventually Daiyu, living as a boy, finds a place in a calligraphy school. That's where she learns many of the life lessons that will help her survive many other hardships that come her way.

Eventually, she finds herself in Pierce, Idaho. This is where the story that Zhang's father stumbled upon on a trip out west is told.

Zhang's use of language is so beautiful and the connections to calligraphy throughout the novel are incredibly thoughtful.The story of prejudice, injustice and violence towards the Chinese throughout USA history as recently as, well, now (think of anti-Asian acts of violence during the early days of Covid). It can be a very difficult to story to read, but it's well worth making the attempt.

I listened to Four Treasures of the Sky. My edition of the audio book came with an interview with the author. That's where she talked about her father coming across an historical marker in Idaho that started her quest to tell this story.