The Girl Who Wrote in Silk

The Girl Who Wrote in Silk
by Killi Estes
reviewed by Courtney Ritchey
Sourcebooks Landmark
400 pages

The Girl Who Wrote in Silk was actually written by a mutual friend of my family. Kelli Estes, living in Seattle, set her book in the Seattle area. I really appreciate her doing so because it added something different to her writing; she probably experienced some of the things in her book firsthand. The plot line follows a young woman named Inara who has taken over her deceased aunt's estate in Orcas Island. Her aunt, knowing how much the island estate meant to Inara, left everything to her, asking that she turn the estate into a bed and breakfast. Inara quickly jumped in on the plans to transform the old manor into a beautiful modern hotel. In the midst of building and remodeling , Inara stumbles across an ancient-looking embroidered sleeve hidden under the stairs. As she researches where the sleeve came from, we readers learn about who created the sleeve: a young Chinese girl named Mei Lien who lived a century before Inara. The book goes between the story of Mei Lien and how she was torn from her family, and Inara's as she tries to decipher the mystery that led Mei Lien to hide just the sleeve under the stairs. This book had some unexpected twists and turns, and it was by far my favorite book that I have read all year. It was heart warming at times, and yet heart wrenching in other aspects. Mei Lien's story opened my eyes to the severe racism that used to be directed towards the Chinese in my old hometown. It really was an amazing story, based on true historical events, and was so beautifully written, I would read it again and again.