Green Island (Ryan) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
Gripping: a triumph of sustained focus on unusually thorny material.... But Green Island is much more than a historical novel. It’s also a family epic.
Claire Hopley - Washington Times


Ryan paints a chilling, convincing picture of Taiwan [that] stands as a tribute to the flawed survivors of [its] history.
Steph Cha - Los Angeles Times


An intricate, gracefully told tale that blends war history, suspense and a woman’s coming-of-age and beyond.... The pages bloom with description, with a photolike sense of place.... And throughout Green Island is an aching sense of the idea of home.
Moira Macdonald - Seattle Times
 

Remarkably compelling.... As much a gripping narrative of an evolving Taiwan as an exquisitely crafted story of one family’s devotion and compromises.
Janine Oshiro - Honolulu Star Advertiser
 

A sweeping story, as epic in scope as the story is intimate.
Barbara VanDenburgh - Arizona Republic


(Starred review.) [An] engrossing epic.... Absorbing and affecting, this powerful tale explores the bond between a father and daughter, the compromises they are forced to make, and the prices they pay in their quest for freedom. —Kristine Huntley
Booklist


An epic political novel focusing on post-World War II dissidents in Taiwan and especially on its repressive government.... The narrative works movingly on many different levels but especially on the personal and the political.
Kirkus Reviews