Virginia

Virginia asked Lisa See:

Why do you open up with the Wallace Stegner quotation in On Gold Muntain?

Lisa See I'm sorry it's taken me forever to answer this question. Can you believe that Goodreads slipped out of my head for a while? Well, it did.

I used that line from Angle of Repose because it summarized what I felt when I was writing my family's story. I wanted to "live in their clothes a while." I didn't realize when I wrote those lines that they would be at the heart of my approach to writing to this day.

More Answered Questions

Dorothy Caimano

Dorothy Caimano asked Lisa See:

Months ago I asked about historic novels about Finland and you said you didn't know any, but asked for recommendations. I have now read three: The Burnt Out Town of Miracles (Jacobson,) New Finnish Grammar (Marani,) and The Unknown Soldier (Linna.) Only the last was written by a Finn and is presumably realistic. But the other two, however unlikely, did have a good sense of time and place. Have you found any?

Bkwmlee

Bkwmlee asked Lisa See:

Hi Lisa! I just wanted to say thank you for writing "The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane." It's one of my favorite books -- the ending was absolutely beautiful and made me cry. As a Chinese-American myself, Li-yan's story really touched me on a personal level and made me think about my relationship with my family. Oh, I also have a fondness for tea, so that part was fascinating! Lee L. from So Cal :-) (had to add ?)

Mary Ann

Mary Ann asked Lisa See:

I love your books and so appreciate the detail that goes into them. I recently finished "On Gold Mountain" (had a hard time putting it down!) How often do you base characters on members of your family and their experiences? Their history is fascinating, and I'm happy to have learned so much about the early Chinese-American experience ... thanks for sharing these courageous, strong, amazing people with us!

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