The Girl Who Wrote in Silk

By: Kelli Estes

Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller

The smallest items can hold centuries of secrets.

Inara Erickson is exploring her deceased aunt's island estate when she finds an elaborately stitched piece of fabric hidden in the house. As she peels back layer upon layer of the secrets it holds, Inara's life becomes interwoven with that of Mei Lein, a young Chinese girl mysteriously driven from her home a century before. Through the stories Mei Lein tells in silk, Inara uncovers a tragic truth that will shake her family to its core - and force her to make an impossible choice.

Inspired by true events, Kelli Estes' brilliant and atmospheric debut serves as a poignant tale of two women determined to do the right thing and the power of our own stories.

©2015 Kelli Estes (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Narrator Emily Woo Zeller delivers a riveting performance of Estes's ambitious debut novel." ( AudioFile)

well written and read

exceptional story, flowed smoothly between time periods. the reader was awesome! she pronounced everything clearly and her voices, narration was perfect.

Three Stars

Sometimes, I'm in the mood for historical fiction; however, I like my historical fiction to be more dramatic and less romance-y. This book had both elements, so I found myself sometimes engaged and sometimes not. Alternating between the past and present, we follow the tale of a young Chinese woman who survived a terrible event only to suffer the devastating loss of her family in a time and place when Chinese were persona non grata in America and young woman of present day who happens upon an embroidered sleeve hidden in her ancestral home. I enjoyed the historical side of this story very much and patiently listened through the goofy romantic banter of the present day protagonist to get to the good parts.

Incredible characters and storyline.

Excellent narration carries this story well. Incredible travels thru recent history. Well done, Estes and Zeller!

What a story!!

Discovery of the hidden Silk with embroidery on it lead to find out more about it. The author starts out in the mid 1800's about a Chinese family who's lives were changed forever and altered. Which brought the story to present time, to when the Silk was discovered. IN present time, Inora inherited a house on Orcus Island. And soon discovered a silk that was stitched with a story. From that point on, her life was about to change. The question of how, when, why, and who belonged to the silk. Listen to the story and you'll find out. This is based on a true story.

Enjoyable Read! (Listen :)

The story pulled me along & kept me interested. Although it is a novel, the topic of ignorant prejudice against the Chinese was very real. I loved how the story unfolded with two timelines & the descendants' lives crossed paths to a resolution. It appealed to my sense of hope! And the fact that there have always been people who went against the mob mentality & known we are all human, despite cultural differences. Unfortunately, sometimes they are few & far between...

Mixed feelings

If you could sum up The Girl Who Wrote in Silk in three words, what would they be?

I loved the story until the ending, which was much too neat and predictable.

Interesting element in history

I listened to the authors other book, which I liked better. This one highlights atrocities not commonly told about Chinese Americans. Make sure you listen to the afterward because some of it is not accurate for the sake of the story. I did not like the Harlequin romance element. I think the book would’ve been better served without it. Also, ridiculous amount of coincidences, but it is worth the free read.

Fiction based on history

I love good fictional work based on little known events in history. Interesting read. So very difficult to be a child of Chinese immigrants in America during a time of fear and prejudice.

Excellent!

The story is very very good with many twists. Just could. It stop listening. The performance also very good.

grade C

The book had an interesting concept but the story was just too unbelievable. I wanted to finish the story but there were many times I almost stopped in disgust. The story seemed to be written by a middle school student.