Red Skies

Tales of the Scavenger's Daughters, Book 4

By: Kay Bratt

Narrated by: Kate Rudd

Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

In the fourth book of the Tales of the Scavenger's Daughters series, the fates of three people who've never met converge in profound and unexpected ways.

Mari, the daughter of the town scavenger, grew up knowing hardship, but she never could have anticipated the struggles that now face her as an adult. Feeling alone and isolated, she dreams of a better life. On the other side of town, a frightened little girl named An Ni is forced to live on the streets, but she silently longs for the one thing she's never known - a family. Max, a struggling American photojournalist, arrives in China with only one goal in mind: to face his demons and put an end to his own unbearable suffering.

From the best-selling author of A Thread Unbroken comes an emotional, hope-filled story that offers a fresh glimpse into the life of a remarkable family.

©2015 Kay Bratt (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

LOVE THIS SERIES!!!!

Not only is this a great read, but Kate Rudd does an excellent narration. The stories are heart warming and the characters are well developed. I highly recommend this book and am looking forward to reading the prequel.

pulled in

enjoyed all 4 books in the Scavengers Daughter series. be sure to read the books in order.
loved Kate Rudy's reading in all 4 audiobooks.

Wonderful series!

I totally enjoyed all the of the books in the series, they were so heart warming though they touched on very serious issues. Also since the fourth book was narrated by the author, her pronouncement of the Chinese words was much better than in the first 3 books, so the audible book finally received the 5 stars the whole series deserved!

I AM SO SAD THIS IS THE END OF THIS FANTASTIC SERIES — I WANT FOUR MORE BOOKS!

I LOVED this series from the very first page of the first book (starting with the introduction music).

If the four books in the series, Book Three was my least favorite, only because of the very self-centered (and obviously broken) character, Sammi. She and her selfishness annoyed me no end. But despite Sammi, the rest of the book was fantastic. Each book continues seamlessly from the prior book, telling the story of the Zhang family, beginning with the father Benfu and his wife, Calli.

The father, Benfu is a scavenger (trash picker). Although they have very little materially, both Benfu and Callie have a lot of love to give.

After their only child (a daughter), is stolen, the devastated couple begins taking in female children who have been found abandoned on the streets and raise them as their own. Each child they take in is given the name of a flower. They shower each girl with all their love, showing and telling them that despite what their country tells them, in THEIR home, females are loved and valued every bit as much as boys are.

The girls (some disabled) are raised to be strong, independent individuals, independent thinkers who are taught to value themselves and taught to have dreams, and to aspire to whatever those dreams may be. Over the years, Benfu and Callie raise more than 20 girls, who even as adults remain very close as a family even though some eventually move to different parts of the country.

In this final book, one of the older daughters, Mari (short for Marigold), lives in Beijing with her husband, Bolin. They are eeking out a living by taking photos of tourists on the back of their camel Choo-Choo. It’s hard work between the two of them. Choo-Choo is old, usually grumpy, disagreeable and uncooperative.

Life gets even harder when Bolin is injured and can no longer work due to a back injury and chronic pain. A two-person job suddenly falls upon tiny Mari. She has no choice but to trudge thru each day as they have no other source of income. Bolin does nothing but sleep the days away now as he becomes more and more addicted to pain pills.

Fate brings Mari together with photojournalist Max, who hires her as a tour guide and translator. A few days later, while going to check on Choo-Choo, Mari discovers he’s been stolen right out of his pen. Bolin takes the news very hard, and not too long after, feeling worthless as a husband and provider, Bolin kills himself.

Max helps Mari through this tragedy. As Mari gets to know Max, she glimpses moments of extreme sadness on Max’s face, but she doesn’t know why he’s so very sad. By keeping each other company, they help each other keep their heads up enough to get through another day.

One day while waiting at the train station, a bedraggled little girl comes running up to Max and Mari babbling something about her sister is hurt and very sick. Afraid it might be a ploy by a gang to rob them, they decide to go see for themselves if another child really does need help. Upon arriving at a little shack in the woods, they find it on fire and impossible to get into.

Max, Mari and the little girl, Mei are terribly upset thinking a child has died alone in a fire before they could get there, but then they see an injured child scooting her way out of the woods. She has a badly broken leg and a raging fever, but somehow she managed to get out.

Mari is shocked — she’s seen this little beggar girl before just down the street from her apartment, and despite having so little, Mari gave the little girl a few coins and loaned the girl her coat.

Soon after the girl disappears, but Mari just can’t get the child out of her mind. She worries about her, wonders what has happened to her, and even tries to find her a few times, but without any luck. Now here she is, badly injured and crawling out of the woods towards them. She finds out the child’s name is An-Ni.

After getting An-Ni medical care. Max talks Mari into taking both girls home to her apartment until An-Ni’s leg has healed (it didn’t take much convincing).

Everyday, Max and Mari take An-Ni back to the hospital for IV antibiotics and pain medication. During their time together in Mari’s home, the girl’s begin telling Mari about their lives on the street. Every day Mari grows more attached to both of them.

Mei begins to remember small details of her grandfather’s shop, and Max thinks he knows some of the landmarks Mei has described, so he goes looking for Mei’s family.

While Mari desperately wants Max to find Mei’s family (and prays the family will also take in An-Ni), at the same time, she is so terribly sad at the thought of losing “her” girls, especially An-Ni. From the first day they met, there has been a strong connection between Mari and An-Ni.

To find out how the story ends, you’ll have to listen to the story yourself. I wish there was a 5th BOOK focusing on Max, Mari and An-Ni.

I am the mother of a beautiful, smart, accomplished adopted daughter from China. We got her at the age of nine months; she just turned 20 a few weeks ago. The time has FLOWN by. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t thank GOD and her biological mother for her. She is what makes my heart beat every day. She could not possibly be more mine.

There is a belief in China about a “thread” that connects a mother’s heart to her child’s heart. I had never heard of it until we were towards the end of the adoption process. I am a complete believer now. There are days I look at my sweet girl and wonder how on earth the powers that be at the adoption agency in China matched us together and got it so right. I cannot imagine another child being mine (we are so alike on so many ways we usually make each other crazy and we argue, but we also love each other like crazy).

Because I have my very own daughter from China, this series touched me more deeply than I can possibly say.

This series will leave you wanting more. The author, Kay Bratt, had a special way of writing that brings you right into the story. It was the first book I read by her (“Wish Me Home” that made me cry at least six times), that led me to stumble upon this series, and am I GLAD it did!

deserves more than 5 stars

If I could give this book more than 5 stars I would of. Wonderful story, heart-tugging, lots of emotions. This author has a fantastic way of writing, I have read the whole series and have to say I liked this one the best, but really they all were good. I just couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen. I was sad, I was angry, I was happy while reading this book. I can't say enough about it. So far I have liked everything this author has written. I don't think you will be disappointed. I Love this reader, she is excellent, and if you want to get a real feel for the characters you should listen.

Full circle!!

I do very much enjoyed this series of the "The Scavenger's Daughter". I could not stop listening. I also loved the narration. The mg narrator's voice varied for each character, making the story live. Brilliant! I would certainly recommend this read to everyone. Read and enjoy!

Love!

This is Book 4 of a wonderful series. I enjoyed the series so much, I will be sorry to see it end.

Another winner

Kay Bratt has again taken me to a place that captivates. A read I didn't want to put down. This series has kept me looking for more. Recommend this book as I do all her others

How does she do it. WOW!!!

ABSOLUTELY captivating and creative writing that draws you in and keeps you entertained for hours and the characters are realistic and diverse. I highly recommended this novel, wonderfully written and narrated.

Emotional adventure

I have listened to four of the books in this series. I had a hard time turning them off, but I am glad I was listening in stead of trying to read. I would never been able to read through my tears. I went from one emotion to the next. Just a wonderful family to get to know.
Marge