Review: Dreaming Waters, by Gail Tsukiyama

I have read several of Gail Tsukiyama's books, and of my favorite adult books, she has written two - Street of Ten Thousand Blossoms and Women of the Silk. While not in my top ten favorites of all time, I still found Dreaming Waters to be a worthwhile read.

In DW, Tsukiyama tells two sides of a family story; Hana, who has Werner's syndrome, which has aged her 38 year-old body to that of a frail 85 year-old, and her mother, Cate, who is Hana's main caretaker, share alternating chapters. Later in the novel, a third voice, that of Hana's childhood friend's daughter, Josephine, as she visits Hana and Cate.

While the story focuses necessarily at times on Hana's illness, the real story is in their relationship, and their family's history. Thankfully, the typical mother-daughter strife is absent, and is replaced with their journey of togetherness and small discoveries of who they are as individuals. Hana's seemingly-golden childhood friend, Laura, joins the story after the halfway point, looking backward for comfort as her own family is falling apart. It is the story of the mourning of a life not fully lived, and yet also the celebration of the spirits with the strength of Tsukiyama's as-always beautiful writing.

Rating: two and a half out of five stars - well written, but not even close to some of Tsukiyama's other works.