Overview
A LIBRARYREADS PICK AND BEST BOOK CLUB PICK OF 2023
āA writer of astonishing grace, delicacy, and feeling.āāMichael Chabon, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
āA beautiful, haunting book.āāKaren 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 Wongāthe 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 upbringingāa choice that will hold emotional and physical consequences.
After a series of nothing parts, nineteen-year-old Anna May gets her big breakāand her first taste of Hollywood fameāstarring opposite Douglas Fairbanks in The Thief of Bagdad. Yet her beauty and talent isnāt 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 yellowfaceā are given starring roles portraying Asian women. Though she suffers professionally and personally, Anna May fights to win lead roles, accept risquĆ© parts, financially support her family, and keep her illicit love affairs hiddenāeven 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 enduresāa remarkable and inspiring woman who broke barriers and became a shining light in Hollywood history.
This book title, The Brightest Star (A Historical Novel Based on the True Story of Anna May Wong), ISBN: 9780063213760, by Gail Tsukiyama, published by HarperCollins (July 2, 2024) is available in paperback. Our minimum order quantity is 25 copies. All standard bulk book orders ship FREE in the continental USA and delivered in 4-10 business days.
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