Evening Reading and Conversation with Jenny Tinghui Zhang

Join City Club of Boise and The Cabin for a reading and conversation with Jenny Tinghui Zhang, author of Four Treasures of the Sky. The book, an international bestseller and New York Times Editor’s Choice, is Zhang’s debut novel set against the backdrop of the Chinese Exclusion Act. It is about a Chinese girl fighting to claim her place in the 1880s American West, including Idaho.

About the book:

Daiyu never wanted to be like the tragic heroine for whom she was named, revered for her beauty and cursed with heartbreak. But when she is kidnapped and smuggled across an ocean from China to America, Daiyu must relinquish the home and future she imagined for herself. Over the years that follow, she is forced to keep reinventing herself to survive. From a calligraphy school, to a San Francisco brothel, to a shop tucked into the Idaho mountains, we follow Daiyu on a desperate quest to outrun the tragedy that chases her. As anti-Chinese sentiment sweeps across the country in a wave of unimaginable violence, Daiyu must draw on each of the selves she has been—including the ones she most wants to leave behind—in order to finally claim her own name and story.

The book received wide acclaim: "Engrossing...Epic" (The New York Times Book Review) · "Transporting" (Washington Post) · "Propulsive" (Oprah Daily) · "Surreal and sprawling" (NPR) · "An absolute must-read" (BuzzFeed) · "Radiant" (BookPage)

Ms. Zhang will read from her book, share insights on her research, and answer questions from the audience on Monday, March 4th, 7 - 8 PM at Boise Contemporary Theater. Tickets are $20, and are available online at cityclubofboise.org.

This event is a community collaboration of City Club of Boise, The Cabin, and Boise Contemporary Theater - thank you for helping make this event possible. Thanks to the Idaho State Historical Society for grant funding to support Ms. Zhang's visit to Idaho.