The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane Summary
Lisa See

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane Overview

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane is a work of fiction by bestselling author Lisa See. Li-yan is a young Akha girl from a remote Chinese village. Her family has grown tea for generations and built their lives around its cultivation. Li-yan starts to reject Akha customs and thinks about life outside her village. The arrival of a stranger marks the end of the Akha's isolated culture. Li-yan falls in love with a boy her parents dislike, and while he leaves to find for work, she has a daughter out of wedlock. As an unwed mother, she must give her daughter up for adoption. Li-yan continues her education and establishes a business in the city. As time passes, she continues to long for the daughter she gave away. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane explores themes of self-discovery, belonging, and the mother-daughter bond.