A LIBRARYREADS PICK AND BEST BOOK CLUB PICK OF 2023
"A writer of astonishing grace, delicacy, and feeling."—Michael Chabon, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
"A beautiful, haunting book."—Karen Joy Fowler, New York Times bestselling author of Booth and We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
The beloved bestselling author of The Color of Air, Women of the Silk, and The Samurai's Garden returns with this magnificent historical novel based on the life of the luminous, groundbreaking actress Anna May Wong—the first and only Asian American woman to gain movie stardom in the early days of Hollywood.
At the dawn of a new century, America is falling in love with silent movies, including young Wong Liu Tsong. The daughter of Chinese immigrants who own a laundry, Wong Liu and her older sister Lew Ying (Lulu) are taunted and bullied for their Chinese heritage. But while Lulu diligently obeys her parents and learns to speak Chinese, Wong Liu sneaks away to the local nickelodeons, buying a ticket with her lunch money and tips saved from laundry deliveries. By eleven Wong Liu is determined to become an actress and has already chosen a stage name: Anna May Wong. At sixteen, Anna May leaves high school to pursue her Hollywood dreams, defying her disapproving father and her Chinese traditional upbringing—a choice that will hold emotional and physical consequences.
After a series of nothing parts, nineteen-year-old Anna May gets her big break—and her first taste of Hollywood fame—starring opposite Douglas Fairbanks in The Thief of Bagdad. Yet her beauty and talent isn't enough to overcome the racism that relegates her to supporting roles as a helpless, exotic butterfly or a vicious, murderous dragon lady while Caucasian actresses in yellowface" are given starring roles portraying Asian women. Though she suffers professionally and personally, Anna May fights to win lead roles, accept risqué parts, financially support her family, and keep her illicit love affairs hidden—even as she finds freedom and glittering stardom abroad, and receives glowing reviews across the globe.
Powerful, poignant, and imbued with Gail Tsukiyama's warmth and empathy, The Brightest Star reimagines the life of the first Asian American screen star whose legacy endures—a remarkable and inspiring woman who broke barriers and became a shining light in Hollywood history.
A LIBRARYREADS PICK AND BEST BOOK CLUB PICK OF 2023
"A writer of astonishing grace, delicacy, and feeling."—Michael Chabon, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
"A beautiful, haunting book."—Karen Joy Fowler, New York Times bestselling author of Booth and We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
The beloved bestselling author of The Color of Air, Women of the Silk, and The Samurai's Garden returns with this magnificent historical novel based on the life of the luminous, groundbreaking actress Anna May Wong—the first and only Asian American woman to gain movie stardom in the early days of Hollywood.
At the dawn of a new century, America is falling in love with silent movies, including young Wong Liu Tsong. The daughter of Chinese immigrants who own a laundry, Wong Liu and her older sister Lew Ying (Lulu) are taunted and bullied for their Chinese heritage. But while Lulu diligently obeys her parents and learns to speak Chinese, Wong Liu sneaks away to the local nickelodeons, buying a ticket with her lunch money and tips saved from laundry deliveries. By eleven Wong Liu is determined to become an actress and has already chosen a stage name: Anna May Wong. At sixteen, Anna May leaves high school to pursue her Hollywood dreams, defying her disapproving father and her Chinese traditional upbringing—a choice that will hold emotional and physical consequences.
After a series of nothing parts, nineteen-year-old Anna May gets her big break—and her first taste of Hollywood fame—starring opposite Douglas Fairbanks in The Thief of Bagdad. Yet her beauty and talent isn't enough to overcome the racism that relegates her to supporting roles as a helpless, exotic butterfly or a vicious, murderous dragon lady while Caucasian actresses in yellowface" are given starring roles portraying Asian women. Though she suffers professionally and personally, Anna May fights to win lead roles, accept risqué parts, financially support her family, and keep her illicit love affairs hidden—even as she finds freedom and glittering stardom abroad, and receives glowing reviews across the globe.
Powerful, poignant, and imbued with Gail Tsukiyama's warmth and empathy, The Brightest Star reimagines the life of the first Asian American screen star whose legacy endures—a remarkable and inspiring woman who broke barriers and became a shining light in Hollywood history.
Critiques-
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April 17, 2023
Tsukiyama (The Color of Air) delivers a comprehensive but lackluster fictionalized memoir of Anna May Wong, the first successful Chinese American film actor. Since Anna May’s childhood in 1910s Los Angeles, she’s dreamed of becoming a movie star. Her traditional father, who runs a laundry, is staunchly opposed, but her mother and older sister are quietly supportive. At 16, Anna May lands a breakout role in The Toll of the Seal, though pervasive racism and anti-miscegenation laws dog her career and mostly limit her to stereotyped bit parts. She’s more readily accepted in Europe than China, where the Chinese press excoriates her with accusations that she’s dishonoring her heritage. Still, after her father and younger siblings return to his ancestral Chinese village, she visits them in 1936. She faces more challenges in the 1950s, first with a serious medical diagnosis and then with fewer opportunities for roles, but her ambition persists. Tsukiyama nails the tone of an amateur memoirist struggling to get her story down, but it doesn’t make for very dynamic fiction, and the rushed pacing doesn’t help. Tsukiyama makes clear the miraculous nature of Wong’s story but doesn’t quite find the form to convey it. Agent: Joy Harris, Joy Harris Literary Agency. -
Narrator Cindy Kay guides listeners through a fictional account of legendary Asian American actress Anna May Wong's life. From a young age, Anna dreams of leaving her traditional household and her father's laundry to become a movie star in Hollywood. Facing racism, heartache, and even the disapproval of her own people, Wong travels the world looking for success and acceptance. Cindy Kay's crisp and strong narration captures the strength and poise of the legendary actress. Kay's performance as Anna May Wong has an emotional resonance that sticks with the listener. V.B. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
