Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of Night of Many Dreams

Night of Many Dreams
Ladyslott avatar reviewed on + 113 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 6


Joan and Emma are sisters growing up in Hong Kong around the time of the Japanese invasion during WWII. Kum Ling, is a traditional Chinese mother hopes to make good matches for them. Lew Hing, their father, is a business man who spends most of his time before and after the war in Japan. Auntie Go is an unconventional woman who runs a knitting factory and has never married. The story mainly focuses on the two sisters and Auntie Go.

Like Tsukiyama's other books, the pace of the book is slow, although much happens. She has an excellent way of evoking the culture of Hong Kong during war time in Hong Kong. She also touches lightly on some of the culture shock of coming to live in America.

Tsukiyama creates strong female characters, who dont necessarily accept the roles society chooses for them, making choices that reflect their personalities and desires. The men in the book are very much secondary characters, without much development.

Although I think that the authors other books The Samurais Garden and Women of the Silk were deeper books than this, Night of Many Dreams was still a worthwhile read. . I would also recommend The Language of Threads, the sequel to Women of the Silk. All of these books are set in the time period of WWII and take place in both Japan and China. I have yet to read her latest book, Dreaming Water, which is on My TBR Mountain.