A Hundred Flowers
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Simon Vance
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By:
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Gail Tsukiyama
About this listen
Gail Tsukiyama's A Hundred Flowers is powerful novel about an ordinary family facing extraordinary times at the start of the Chinese Cultural Revolution China, 1957.
Chairman Mao has declared a new openness in society: "Let a hundred flowers bloom; let a hundred schools of thought contend." Many intellectuals fear it is only a trick, and Kai Ying's husband, Sheng, a teacher, has promised not to jeopardize their safety or that of their young son, Tao. But one July morning, just before his sixth birthday, Tao watches helplessly as Sheng is dragged away for writing a letter criticizing the Communist Party and sent to a labor camp for "reeducation."
A year later, still missing his father desperately, Tao climbs to the top of the hundred-year-old kapok tree in front of their home, wanting to see the mountain peaks in the distance. But Tao slips and tumbles 30 feet to the courtyard below, badly breaking his leg. As Kai Ying struggles to hold her small family together in the face of this shattering reminder of her husband's absence, other members of the household must face their own guilty secrets and strive to find peace in a world where the old sense of order is falling.
Once again, Tsukiyama brings us a powerfully moving story of ordinary people facing extraordinary circumstances with grace and courage.
©2012 Gail Tsukiyama (P)2012 Macmillan AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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- By Gina on 09-06-15
By: Cecily Wong
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The Song Poet
- A Memoir of My Father
- By: Kao Kalia Yang
- Narrated by: Kao Kalia Yang
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Bee lost his father as a young boy and keenly felt his orphanhood. He would wander from one neighbor to the next, collecting the things they said to each other, whispering the words to himself at night until one day a song was born. Bee sings the life of his people through the war-torn jungle and a Thai refugee camp. But the songs fall away in the cold, bitter world of a Minneapolis housing project and on the factory floor until, with the death of Bee's mother, the songs leave him for good.
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Beautiful, full of sadness, power, and heart.
- By Melissa L. Magana on 04-27-17
By: Kao Kalia Yang
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One Amazing Thing
- By: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
- Narrated by: Purva Bedi, Soneela Nankani, Neil Shah
- Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Winner of a Pushcart Prize for poetry and an American Book Award for her short stories, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni explores themes of women, immigration, and her vibrant Indian culture to great effect. Divakaruni expands on these ideas in One Amazing Thing, a project long in the making and full of electric prose.
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An ok way to kill some time
- By R.Reader on 11-07-12
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The Ambassador's Daughter
- By: Pam Jenoff
- Narrated by: Joanna Daniel
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Brought to the peace conference by her father, a German diplomat, Margot Rosenthal initially resents being trapped in the congested French capital, where she is still looked upon as the enemy. But as she contemplates returning to Berlin and a life with Stefan, the wounded fiancé she hardly knows anymore, she decides that being in Paris is not so bad after all. Bored and torn between duty and the desire to be free, Margot strikes up unlikely alliances: with Krysia, an accomplished musician with radical acquaintances and a secret to protect; and with Georg, the handsome, damaged naval officer who gives Margot a job.
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Book 0 in the series
- By Stevon on 12-12-17
By: Pam Jenoff
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The Space Between Us
- By: Thrity Umrigar
- Narrated by: Purva Bedi
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Best-selling author Thrity Umrigar won the Nieman Fellowship and earned a finalist spot for the PEN/Beyond Margins award with The Space Between Us. Set in modern-day India, this evocative novel follows upper-middle-class Parsi housewife Sera Dubash and 65-year-old illiterate household worker Bhima as they make their way through life. Though separated by their stations in life, the two women share bonds of womanhood that prove far stronger than the divisions of class or culture.
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A Story that stays with you
- By gardener97 on 04-25-15
By: Thrity Umrigar
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The Other Mother
- By: Rachel Harper
- Narrated by: January LaVoy, William DeMeritt
- Length: 14 hrs
- Unabridged
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Jenry Castillo is a musical prodigy, raised by a single mother in Miami, who arrives at Brown University on a scholarship—but also to learn more about his late father, Jasper Patterson, a famous ballet dancer who died tragically when Jenry was two. On his search, he meets his estranged grandfather, Winston Patterson, a legendary professor of African American history and a fixture at the Ivy League school, who explodes his world with one question: Why is Jenry so focused on Jasper, when it was Winston’s daughter, Juliet, who was Jenry’s mother’s lover?
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Very good.
- By Roland Harper on 05-22-22
By: Rachel Harper
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Call Me Zelda
- By: Erika Robuck
- Narrated by: Amy Landon
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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From New York to Paris, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald reigned as king and queen of the Jazz Age, seeming to float on champagne bubbles above the mundane cares of the world. But to those who truly knew them, the endless parties were only a distraction from their inner turmoil and from a love that united them with a scorching intensity.
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If you want to read about Zelda and Scott, move on
- By Leahmgordon on 11-14-17
By: Erika Robuck
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Before We Visit the Goddess
- By: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan, Priya Ayyar, Vikas Adam
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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The daughter of a poor baker in rural Bengal, India, Sabitri yearns to get an education, but her family's situation means college is an impossible dream. Then an influential woman from Kolkata takes Sabitri under her wing, but her generosity soon proves dangerous after the girl makes a single unforgivable misstep. Years later, Sabitri's own daughter, Bela, haunted by her mother's choices, flees abroad with her political refugee lover - but the America she finds is vastly different from the country she'd imagined.
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Absolutely Worth a Credit
- By Texastanya on 08-27-16
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All the Lives We Never Lived
- By: Anuradha Roy
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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From the Man Booker Prize-nominated author of Sleeping on Jupiter, The Folded Earth, and An Atlas of Impossible Longing, a poignant and sweeping novel set in India during World War II and the present day about a son’s quest to uncover the truth about his mother....
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Beautiful book
- By Sonia S. on 12-13-19
By: Anuradha Roy
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Honor
- By: Elif Shafak
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marno, Piter Marik
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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An honor killing shatters and transforms the lives of Turkish immigrants in 1970s London. Internationally best-selling Turkish author Elif Shafak’s new novel is a dramatic tale of families, love, and misunderstandings that follows the destinies of twin sisters born in a Kurdish village. While Jamila stays to become a midwife, Pembe follows her Turkish husband, Adem, to London, where they hope to make new lives for themselves and their children. In London, they face a choice: stay loyal to the old traditions or try their best to fit in.
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Complex but Compelling
- By Cariola on 04-14-13
By: Elif Shafak
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The Voice
- An Ephemera Novella
- By: Anne Bishop
- Narrated by: Cassandra Morris
- Length: 1 hr and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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In a small village outside the city of Vision, the people know no sorrow or grief. But this seemingly idyllic community is hiding a terrible secret. As a young child, Nalah did not know why she was told to bring a cake to the mute girl known as the Voice whenever she was upset, only that doing so made her feel better. Now grown, Nalah understands the dark truth, and yearns to escape from the oppressive village that has been her life-long home.
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Doesn't hold up
- By Linda on 05-22-13
By: Anne Bishop
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Grand Central
- Original Stories of Postwar Love and Reunion
- By: Melanie Benjamin, Amanda Hodgkinson, Pam Jenoff, and others
- Narrated by: Carla Mercer-Meyer
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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On any particular day, thousands upon thousands of people pass through New York City's Grand Central Terminal, through the whispering gallery, beneath the ceiling of stars, and past the information booth and its beckoning four-faced clock, to whatever destination is calling them. It is a place where people come to say hello and good-bye. And each person has a story to tell.
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Grand Central: Memories
- By ZacharyKindle Customer on 05-03-17
By: Melanie Benjamin, and others
What listeners say about A Hundred Flowers
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Physalia
- 01-16-20
a pleasure reading or listening
it is a pleasure reading or listening to Tsukiyama's stories. I can't wait for her next novel. I have read them all this is the first time listening to one of her books in audio.
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- B. Nightingale
- 09-01-13
I loved this book!
I loved this book and learning about Mao's Hundred Flowers Campaign. The book was engaging and flowed. The characters came to life for me, and I became attached to them. Simon Vance is a wonderful narrator.
I want to listen to more of Gail Tsukiyama's books.
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- Neddie Ludd
- 08-15-18
So,...what happens?
Narrator was excellent, storyline & characters engaging, however there was neither a real climax nor conclusion. Felt like a final chapter (or two) went missing. :/
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- Byron
- 08-28-12
A family's story in early Mao's China
When Mao Tse-Tung came into power in China he was supposedly improving the living conditions in China so that things would be more equal for all the people. In 1956, he instituted a new policy where he asked the people to help him with ideas to accomplish this goal. He said: "Let a hundred flowers bloom; let a hundred schools of thought contend." BUT, after a few months of ideas asking for changes involving changing Mao's policies, a reign of dictatorship began that eventually ended in millions of citizen deaths in China.
As this story begins, Mao has just decided it's his way or no way. He ordered the round up of the intellectuals, wealthy families, artists, and everyone who dared to express anything but praise of Mao and his policies. The other citizens in China are finding their living standards plummet. Private homes are forced into homes for multiply families. Food is by coupons only, and it's becoming less and less available.
Gail Tsukiyama focuses her story on one family and their extended friends. Kai Yung finds herself holding her family together after her husband is sent to a 're-education' center, days away from home, because of a letter criticizing Mao.
I found the relationships in this little circle to be the best part of this difficult, terrible, but life affirming story. Kai Ying is already a herbalist that the community depends upon to cure ills and pains. She is a devoted mother to her 6 year old son; comforting daughter in law; and friend to all, including a run away pregnant fifteen year old who takes up residence in her home. Her fervent hope is that her husband is safe and will return home soon, but after only two letter, and months and months away from home, her hope is more and more difficult to maintain.
This family's story was very engaging!! There were a few great conflicts, traumas, and courageous acts that greatly added to the dramatic interest of this story, but mostly it's about a family seeking peace and hope in situations of great conflicts beyond their control in 1958, Mao's China.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Kathleen
- 09-29-12
Excellent book about China revolution.
This is the story of a Chinese family whose father and grandfather were part of the educated class in 1957 when Mao Tse Tung said that there should be “a hundred flowers” meaning people should feel free to criticize constructively the Communist party. But when people did, he had them arrested and sent for “re-education to labor camps. They arrested Shenn for sending such a letter. It turned out his father wrote the letter, but Shen took the punishment because he knew his father would never be able to survive labor camp. Shenn’s wife, Kai Ying, and his son, Tao, were very angry when they found out what happened. This family, taking in others who needed help as well, were surviving the grief of living without their father/husband/son. A very good book showing the very beginning of what turned out to be a nightmare history for China for the next 30 years. The author is interviewed at the end of the book.
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6 people found this helpful
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- EAA
- 02-26-13
Enjoyable
What did you like best about this story?
I love learning about different cultures. The story was interesting and while every detail may not be historically accurate it gave me a better understanding of how people dealt with the cultural revolution in China. I loved the different characters.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Ellen
- 11-12-12
A supplementary tale of the Cultural Revolution
Is there anything you would change about this book?
I've read and enjoyed other books by Gail Tsukiyama, and I've read many narratives of the Cultural Revolution, fiction and non-fiction. Although I finished this book, it wasn't especially gripping. Nevertheless, it adds fresh voices to the stories of this time period, and the writing is good.
Would you be willing to try another book from Gail Tsukiyama? Why or why not?
Yes, I'd read more by Tsukiyama, she's a gifted writer.
Have you listened to any of Simon Vance’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
I heard him first reading the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, so I really identify him with those stories. Although I don't really like listening to UK English, he reads well.
Did A Hundred Flowers inspire you to do anything?
Continue learning about this time period.
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- Barbara
- 01-30-13
Wonderful historical novel
If you could sum up A Hundred Flowers in three words, what would they be?
absolutely engaging story
What was one of the most memorable moments of A Hundred Flowers?
The fact that Simon Vance narrated it. I love his
wonderful voice! He is enchanting!
Which character – as performed by Simon Vance – was your favorite?
The grandfather
If you could take any character from A Hundred Flowers out to dinner, who would it be and why?
The Grandfather because he has so much knowledge
and historical value! He is so wise and
insightful.
Any additional comments?
I am really into Asian history at this time.
It is spell-binding and beautiful.
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- StephanieP
- 08-22-12
Inept historical novel
Has A Hundred Flowers turned you off from other books in this genre?
Nope.
What didn’t you like about Simon Vance’s performance?
It was emotionless and bland.
Any additional comments?
I stopped listening because of the accumulation of historical errors. The hospital scene, in particular, is one from today's modern hospitals not late 1950s China or anywhere in the world. The story was not engaging enough to overcome the sloppiness of the writing.
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5 people found this helpful