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The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See

This novel, recently released in paperback, provides insight into the love between mothers and daughters, overcoming brutal adversity and loss, how it feels to be a scorned ethnic minority, and the difficulties of reconciling the demands of modernity with constraints imposed by traditional cultures. And, for those of us who love tea, it is also a carefully researched meditation on Pu’er, a tea grown and produced in the Yunnan province of China where Li-yan, one of the novel’s main characters, is born. I can recommend no better way to read this book than over a cup of the tea itself. If that sounds good, an impressive range of Pu’er is available at Savvy Tea in Madison, which recently hosted a tea tasting inspired by the book. Not sure which tea will go best with the book? Check with Phil or Judy, the tea shop’s owners.

Pem McNerney, Living Editor, Shore Publishing