Skip to Main Content (Press Enter)
Green Island by Shawna Yang Ryan
Add Green Island to bookshelf
Add to Bookshelf

Look Inside | Reading Guide

Green Island

A Novel

A novel

A Novel

By Shawna Yang Ryan

By Shawna Yang Ryan

By Shawna Yang Ryan

By Shawna Yang Ryan

By Shawna Yang Ryan
Read by Emily Woo Zeller

By Shawna Yang Ryan
Read by Emily Woo Zeller

Best Seller

Category: Fiction

Category: Fiction

Category: Fiction | Audiobooks

Paperback $16.95

Jan 10, 2017 | ISBN 9781101872369

Ebook $4.99

Feb 23, 2016 | ISBN 9781101874264

Audiobook Download $25.00

Oct 15, 2024 | 983 Minutes

All Formats
+
    Green Island by Shawna Yang Ryan
    Paperback $16.95
    Jan 10, 2017 | ISBN 9781101872369

    Buy from Other Retailers:

    See All Formats (2) +
    • $16.95

      Jan 10, 2017 | ISBN 9781101872369

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Feb 23, 2016 | ISBN 9781101874264

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Oct 15, 2024 | ISBN 9798217079988

      983 Minutes

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    Buy the Audiobook Download:

    About Green Island

    BEST BOOK AWARD IN FICTION BY THE ASSOCIATION FOR ASIAN AMERICAN STUDIES • A stunning, lyrical novel that tells “the story of how the Tsais, a Taiwanese family, survive the ‘February 28 Incident’ of 1947 and precariously navigate the decades that follow” (The New York Times).

    As an uprising rocks Taiwan, a young doctor in Taipei is taken from his newborn daughter by Chinese Nationalists, on charges of speaking out against the government. Although the doctor eventually returns to his family, his arrival is marked by alienation from his loved ones and paranoia among his community. 

    Years later, this troubled past follows his youngest daughter to America, where, as a mother and a wife, she too is forced to decide between what is right and what might save her family—the same choice she witnessed her father make many years before. 

    The story of a family and a nation grappling with the nuances of complicity and survival, Green Island raises the question: how far would you go for the ones you love?

    About Green Island

    “Shawna Yang Ryan’s propulsive storytelling carries us through a bloody time in Taiwanese history, its implications still reverberating today. The story is haunted by questions about whether Taiwan is a part of China or its own country, what the costs are of standing up for one’s beliefs and by the choices made by one father and his daughter. Green Island is a tough, unsentimental and moving novel that is a memorial not only to the heroes, but also to the survivors.” —Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sympathizer

    A stunning story of love, betrayal, and family, set against the backdrop of a changing Taiwan over the course of the twentieth century.

    February 28, 1947: Trapped inside the family home amid an uprising that has rocked Taipei, Dr. Tsai delivers his youngest daughter, the unnamed narrator of Green Island, just after midnight as the city is plunged into martial law. In the following weeks, as the Chinese Nationalists act to crush the opposition, Dr. Tsai becomes one of the many thousands of people dragged away from their families and thrown into prison. His return, after more than a decade, is marked by alienation from his loved ones and paranoia among his community—conflicts that loom over the growing bond he forms with his youngest daughter. Years later, this troubled past follows her to the United States, where, as a mother and a wife, she too is forced to decide between what is right and what might save her family—the same choice she witnessed her father make many years before.  

    As the novel sweeps across six decades and two continents, the life of the narrator shadows the course of Taiwan’s history from the end of Japanese colonial rule to the decades under martial law and, finally, to Taiwan’s transformation into a democracy. But, above all, Green Island is a lush and lyrical story of a family and a nation grappling with the nuances of complicity and survival, raising the question: how far would you be willing to go for the ones you love?

    About Green Island

    “Shawna Yang Ryan’s propulsive storytelling carries us through a bloody time in Taiwanese history, its implications still reverberating today. The story is haunted by questions about whether Taiwan is a part of China or its own country, what the costs are of standing up for one’s beliefs and by the choices made by one father and his daughter. Green Island is a tough, unsentimental and moving novel that is a memorial not only to the heroes, but also to the survivors.” —Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sympathizer

    A stunning story of love, betrayal, and family, set against the backdrop of a changing Taiwan over the course of the twentieth century.

    February 28, 1947: Trapped inside the family home amid an uprising that has rocked Taipei, Dr. Tsai delivers his youngest daughter, the unnamed narrator of Green Island, just after midnight as the city is plunged into martial law. In the following weeks, as the Chinese Nationalists act to crush the opposition, Dr. Tsai becomes one of the many thousands of people dragged away from their families and thrown into prison. His return, after more than a decade, is marked by alienation from his loved ones and paranoia among his community—conflicts that loom over the growing bond he forms with his youngest daughter. Years later, this troubled past follows her to the United States, where, as a mother and a wife, she too is forced to decide between what is right and what might save her family—the same choice she witnessed her father make many years before.  

    As the novel sweeps across six decades and two continents, the life of the narrator shadows the course of Taiwan’s history from the end of Japanese colonial rule to the decades under martial law and, finally, to Taiwan’s transformation into a democracy. But, above all, Green Island is a lush and lyrical story of a family and a nation grappling with the nuances of complicity and survival, raising the question: how far would you be willing to go for the ones you love?

    Read An Excerpt

    Reading Guide

    Read An Excerpt

    Reading Guide

    Read An Excerpt

    Reading Guide

    Listen to a sample from Green Island

    Also by Shawna Yang Ryan

    Water Ghosts
    See all books by Shawna Yang Ryan

    Also by Shawna Yang Ryan

    Water Ghosts
    See all books by Shawna Yang Ryan

    Also by Shawna Yang Ryan

    Water Ghosts
    See all books by Shawna Yang Ryan

    About Shawna Yang Ryan

    Shawna Yang Ryan is a former Fulbright scholar and the author of one previous novel, Water Ghosts;she teaches in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. Her short fiction has appeared in ZYZZYVA, The Asian American Literary Review, Kartika… More about Shawna Yang Ryan

    About Shawna Yang Ryan

    Shawna Yang Ryan is a former Fulbright scholar and the author of one previous novel, Water Ghosts;she teaches in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. Her short fiction has appeared in ZYZZYVA, The Asian American Literary Review, Kartika… More about Shawna Yang Ryan

    About Shawna Yang Ryan

    Shawna Yang Ryan is a former Fulbright scholar and the author of one previous novel, Water Ghosts;she teaches in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. Her short fiction has appeared in ZYZZYVA, The Asian American Literary Review, Kartika… More about Shawna Yang Ryan

    Product Details

    Category: Fiction

    Paperback | $16.95
    Published by Vintage
    Jan 10, 2017 | 400 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8 | ISBN 9781101872369

    Category: Fiction

    Ebook | $4.99
    Published by Vintage
    Feb 23, 2016 | 400 Pages | ISBN 9781101874264

    Category: Fiction | Audiobooks

    Audiobook Download | $25.00
    Published by Random House Audio
    Oct 15, 2024 | 983 Minutes | ISBN 9798217079988

    YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

    Praise

    “Ryan embraces the complexity of the situation, by not creating heroes but instead exploring the truth of compromise, survival and belonging.” —The New York Times

    “A tough, unsentimental, and moving novel that is a memorial not only to the heroes, but also to the survivors.” —Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sympathizer

    “Sweeping . . . as epic in scope as the story is intimate.” —The Arizona Republic

    “A chilling, convincing picture of Taiwan during the years of authoritarian rule.” —Los Angeles Times
     
    “Moving and suspenseful. . . . Full of compassion.” —Richmond Times-Dispatch

    Awards

    Asian American Studies Book Award WINNER 2017

    Looking for More Great Reads?
    21 Books You’ve Been Meaning to Read

    Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network

    Raise kids who love to read

    Brightly

    Raise kids who love to read

    Today's Top Books

    Today's Top Books

    Want to know what people are actually reading right now?

         An online magazine for today’s home cook

    TASTE

    An online magazine for today’s home cook