The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See
Li-yan and her family are part of a small minority group in China that follows a very precise spiritual code in a remote part of the country. Their business is tea, and pretty soon a stranger comes to the village with dreams of rare, healing tea and, of course, money. Li-yan has a baby out of wedlock (a big no-no in her village) and must smuggle the baby to the nearest town where she leaves the child on the steps of an orphanage. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See ($36) takes shape as Li-yan leaves her village and encounters the wider world”all the while wondering about the daughter she gave up, the family she left behind and the tea that is her birthright.
