Do Not Say We Have Nothing

Music. Sometimes fiction can transport readers to unfamiliar places and there to discover that what appears to be different may be universal. In her novel titled, Do Not Say We Have Nothing,Madeline Thien brings key milestones in life in China over the past five decades to life through two families and their love of music. Events like the Cultural Revolution and the Tiananamen Square Protests take on a different level of understanding when viewed through the eyes of characters who we come to know as people just like us. Music has been called the universal language, and Thien uses that framework as a way to draw us into families and characters we care about, into politics that are divisive and harmful, and into a story that is complex on many levels. Patient readers are rewarded with insights about creativity and freedom that are universal. Rating: Five-star (I love it) Click here to purchase Do Not Say We Have Nothing from amazon.com.