--- product_id: 61468830 title: "The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane: A Novel" price: "19295CFA" currency: XOF in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.sn/products/61468830-the-tea-girl-of-hummingbird-lane-a-novel store_origin: SN region: Senegal --- # The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane: A Novel **Price:** 19295CFA **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane: A Novel - **How much does it cost?** 19295CFA with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.sn](https://www.desertcart.sn/products/61468830-the-tea-girl-of-hummingbird-lane-a-novel) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa See, “one of those special writers capable of delivering both poetry and plot” ( The New York Times Book Review ), a moving novel about tradition, tea farming, and the bonds between mothers and daughters. In their remote mountain village, Li-yan and her family align their lives around the seasons and the farming of tea. For the Akha people, ensconced in ritual and routine, life goes on as it has for generations—until a stranger appears at the village gate in a jeep, the first automobile any of the villagers has ever seen. The stranger’s arrival marks the first entrance of the modern world in the lives of the Akha people. Slowly, Li-yan, one of the few educated girls on her mountain, begins to reject the customs that shaped her early life. When she has a baby out of wedlock—conceived with a man her parents consider a poor choice—she rejects the tradition that would compel her to give the child over to be killed, and instead leaves her, wrapped in a blanket with a tea cake tucked in its folds, near an orphanage in a nearby city. As Li-yan comes into herself, leaving her insular village for an education, a business, and city life, her daughter, Haley, is raised in California by loving adoptive parents. Despite her privileged childhood, Haley wonders about her origins. Across the ocean Li-yan longs for her lost daughter. Over the course of years, each searches for meaning in the study of Pu’er, the tea that has shaped their family’s destiny for centuries. A powerful story about circumstances, culture, and distance, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane paints an unforgettable portrait of a little known region and its people and celebrates the bond of family. Review: Beautifully written and compelling - Li-Yan lives in the Spring Well Village, one of the many villages of the Akha people. Akha people, are one of the many ethnic tribes of people who live in the Yunnan province of China. Li-Yan falls in love with classmate Sen-pa from the Shelter Shadow Village but their parents do not approve of the marriage. Li-Yan finds out she is pregnant with his child. Because it's taboo to have a child unmarried, Li-Yan end up abandoning her daughter at an orphanage with a tea cake instead of following tradition to kill the child. Her daughter, Haley, ends up being adopted by an American couple in California. Both Li-Yan and Haley is curious about each other and they hope to find answers about each other. A-ma can be very strict about things in the family but because Li-Yan is her only daughter, she tries to help Li-Yan during the pregnancy and conceal it from the family since its taboo to be pregnant when unmarried. Li-Yan had to give up her dream to past an exam to go to college but she wanted to make sure can provide a good life for her child. Her sacrifice for many things has helped her daughter obtain a better life. Although her life is a constant struggle, Li-Yan is able to relocate away from her Akha home to a trade school in Kunming to start off with a clean slate. The mother and daughter relationships are vital in the novel just like how the special ancient tea grove is passed down the family from mother to daughter. The women in The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane are strong women; they are resilient. Lisa See's The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane is beautifully written and it's compelling. Her narration is that of a well versed storyteller. She educates readers about the traditions and culture of the Ahka people. I found it very interesting to learn more about the Ahka people and See did her research well. The art of tea is explained exquistely throughout the book. I am a huge tea lover so I found it fascinating to read. Cultivating tea to brewing tea is very complex and tea aficionados will enjoy reading about the history of tea, especially of Pu'er. Through tea Li-Yan is connected to her family roots and most importantly to her daughter. The yellow threads in the tea cakes bring the family together. The novel is mostly in first person through Li-Yan's perspective. See starts the novel off with Li-Yan being about 10 and ends the novel when Li-Yan is in her mid to late 30s. Through letters and support group dialogue, readers peer into Haley's life and how she is doing. Although heartbreaking at times, See has captured the spirit of what it means to be a daughter and a mother. While Li-Yan is separated from her daughter, she yearns for her every day. Haley always thinks about her birth mother and the tea cake. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane is a story about tradition, culture, family, love, loss, sacrifice, perseverance, new beginnings and origins. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane is by far my favorite novel by See and it makes a wonderful reading companion to Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. I highly recommend this novel. Review: See is the best in the genre but the rags-to-riches storyline is a lost opportunity - I have read all of Lisa See’s books and am an ardent fan. I traveled frequently to Hong Kong as an American businessman in the 80s, when the harbor was still filled with junks, and was in the first wave of foreign businessmen allowed onto the Chinese mainland. I ultimately lived and worked in China for nine years and have since read all of the Chinese fiction I can get my hands on. No other author that I have found appreciates and understands the nuances of Chinese culture as deeply as See. This book certainly meets her standard on that front but is admittedly not my favorite. It’s like tea, I guess; a matter of personal taste. There is an awful lot about tea, for sure. It is, in my experience, far more information than the average Chinese person could provide, but the storyline is built around it so that is not a criticism from me. It didn’t strike me as a book about tea as other readers obviously felt. This is the first time in my memory that See has tackled a protagonist from one of the 55 minority ethnic groups and that was a bold challenge that I thought she handled superbly. Truly understanding how the minority groups and the Han majority fit into the Chinese tapestry is a challenge for any Westerner, but I thought See brought her usual sensitivity and insight to the task. She also tackles the issues faced by Chinese orphans brought to the US as babies. My company in China actually sponsored a local orphanage and I gained quite a bit of insight into that unique slice of modern China. See does a very good job of characterizing the challenges that exist within China, but even though I have a Chinese wife (Dongbei Han), I have never fully appreciated what happens to these babies after they leave China. And I am thankful for See’s insight on that. Another huge literary challenge that she handled extremely well. My only reservation about the book is that while the rags-to-riches storyline, with a lot of pain along the way, is a modern Chinese story, it is an extremely rare one statistically. (Less rare in Southern California.) I’m not so much concerned with reinforcing false stereotypes, and I don’t think of it as a discredit to my friends and family who don’t fit that stereotype, as much as a lost opportunity. See is an extremely gifted storyteller with an uncanny insight into Chinese culture. I guess I would rather she leave the rags-to-riches storylines to others less gifted with her talent so that she can continue to give us more of what makes her so special as an author. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #15,568 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #32 in Asian American & Pacific Islander Literature (Books) #124 in Multigenerational Fiction (Books) #169 in Family Saga Fiction | | Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 20,491 Reviews | ## Images ![The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane: A Novel - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91qNjd-Se2L.jpg) ## Available Options This product comes in different **Media Language, Media Format** options. ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Beautifully written and compelling *by N***S on March 21, 2017* Li-Yan lives in the Spring Well Village, one of the many villages of the Akha people. Akha people, are one of the many ethnic tribes of people who live in the Yunnan province of China. Li-Yan falls in love with classmate Sen-pa from the Shelter Shadow Village but their parents do not approve of the marriage. Li-Yan finds out she is pregnant with his child. Because it's taboo to have a child unmarried, Li-Yan end up abandoning her daughter at an orphanage with a tea cake instead of following tradition to kill the child. Her daughter, Haley, ends up being adopted by an American couple in California. Both Li-Yan and Haley is curious about each other and they hope to find answers about each other. A-ma can be very strict about things in the family but because Li-Yan is her only daughter, she tries to help Li-Yan during the pregnancy and conceal it from the family since its taboo to be pregnant when unmarried. Li-Yan had to give up her dream to past an exam to go to college but she wanted to make sure can provide a good life for her child. Her sacrifice for many things has helped her daughter obtain a better life. Although her life is a constant struggle, Li-Yan is able to relocate away from her Akha home to a trade school in Kunming to start off with a clean slate. The mother and daughter relationships are vital in the novel just like how the special ancient tea grove is passed down the family from mother to daughter. The women in The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane are strong women; they are resilient. Lisa See's The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane is beautifully written and it's compelling. Her narration is that of a well versed storyteller. She educates readers about the traditions and culture of the Ahka people. I found it very interesting to learn more about the Ahka people and See did her research well. The art of tea is explained exquistely throughout the book. I am a huge tea lover so I found it fascinating to read. Cultivating tea to brewing tea is very complex and tea aficionados will enjoy reading about the history of tea, especially of Pu'er. Through tea Li-Yan is connected to her family roots and most importantly to her daughter. The yellow threads in the tea cakes bring the family together. The novel is mostly in first person through Li-Yan's perspective. See starts the novel off with Li-Yan being about 10 and ends the novel when Li-Yan is in her mid to late 30s. Through letters and support group dialogue, readers peer into Haley's life and how she is doing. Although heartbreaking at times, See has captured the spirit of what it means to be a daughter and a mother. While Li-Yan is separated from her daughter, she yearns for her every day. Haley always thinks about her birth mother and the tea cake. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane is a story about tradition, culture, family, love, loss, sacrifice, perseverance, new beginnings and origins. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane is by far my favorite novel by See and it makes a wonderful reading companion to Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. I highly recommend this novel. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ See is the best in the genre but the rags-to-riches storyline is a lost opportunity *by G***R on April 9, 2018* I have read all of Lisa See’s books and am an ardent fan. I traveled frequently to Hong Kong as an American businessman in the 80s, when the harbor was still filled with junks, and was in the first wave of foreign businessmen allowed onto the Chinese mainland. I ultimately lived and worked in China for nine years and have since read all of the Chinese fiction I can get my hands on. No other author that I have found appreciates and understands the nuances of Chinese culture as deeply as See. This book certainly meets her standard on that front but is admittedly not my favorite. It’s like tea, I guess; a matter of personal taste. There is an awful lot about tea, for sure. It is, in my experience, far more information than the average Chinese person could provide, but the storyline is built around it so that is not a criticism from me. It didn’t strike me as a book about tea as other readers obviously felt. This is the first time in my memory that See has tackled a protagonist from one of the 55 minority ethnic groups and that was a bold challenge that I thought she handled superbly. Truly understanding how the minority groups and the Han majority fit into the Chinese tapestry is a challenge for any Westerner, but I thought See brought her usual sensitivity and insight to the task. She also tackles the issues faced by Chinese orphans brought to the US as babies. My company in China actually sponsored a local orphanage and I gained quite a bit of insight into that unique slice of modern China. See does a very good job of characterizing the challenges that exist within China, but even though I have a Chinese wife (Dongbei Han), I have never fully appreciated what happens to these babies after they leave China. And I am thankful for See’s insight on that. Another huge literary challenge that she handled extremely well. My only reservation about the book is that while the rags-to-riches storyline, with a lot of pain along the way, is a modern Chinese story, it is an extremely rare one statistically. (Less rare in Southern California.) I’m not so much concerned with reinforcing false stereotypes, and I don’t think of it as a discredit to my friends and family who don’t fit that stereotype, as much as a lost opportunity. See is an extremely gifted storyteller with an uncanny insight into Chinese culture. I guess I would rather she leave the rags-to-riches storylines to others less gifted with her talent so that she can continue to give us more of what makes her so special as an author. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ What an unexpected treat *by M***E on March 29, 2023* This book is a solid 4.5, but I rounded up to 5 stars because of how much I enjoyed it. This is outside of my usual preferred genres, and I truly only picked it was one of the recommended reads for the Women’s History Month bookmark on the kindle challenge and I figured I’d try something different. It far exceeded my expectations, and especially in the last half of the book I found myself eager to reach the end because I wanted to know how everything would be tied up. I saw some criticisms that there was “a lot” or “too much” minutia around tea making/brewing. For me, I didn’t find that to be true and I enjoyed learning some of the details of Pu’er and the tea market at that time. I loved learning of Haley through little letter like updates and school essays, while the main story focused on Li-yan. The entire journey was incredibly satisfying. “No coincidence, no story” indeed. Some parts were slow, and a lot of character development and growth, truly delving into culture and practices that to me are wholly new. There were some paragraphs I felt like I had to read a few times to truly grasp. Some of it was probably a bit too contrived (hence the tagline of the whole story), which is why I knocked half a star. In the beginning I wasn’t sure I was going to like it, but somewhere between the first and second parts of the novel, I found myself gaining more and more intrigue and interest. Probably the last 25 pages of the book were my favorite. Once i picked up on where this book was possibly headed, I couldn’t stop myself from barreling towards the end. I loved how See ended this novel, leaving much up to readers’ interpretation while still signaling the resolution we all hoped for. It was a book that left me wanting more, but somehow still satisfied with what I got. I’ll definitely be checking out some other Lisa See books if this is what I have to expect. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.sn/products/61468830-the-tea-girl-of-hummingbird-lane-a-novel](https://www.desertcart.sn/products/61468830-the-tea-girl-of-hummingbird-lane-a-novel) --- *Product available on Desertcart Senegal* *Store origin: SN* *Last updated: 2026-09-07*