Green Island: A novel

An Amazon Best Book of February 2016:Green Island by Shawna Yang Ryan is a moving and enthralling exploration of family, betrayal, survival, and cultural identity as told through the history of one Taiwanese family. Dr. Tsai is a revered and wealthy doctor, but when he speaks out after the February 28 Massacre, the anti-government uprising in Taiwan, his life and that of his family will be forever changed. Missing for a decade, his family struggles to endure. Told from the perspective of his youngest daughter, the Tsai family and thousands of others negotiate the suspicion and violence that lurks in every doorway. As she grows up, becoming first a wife and then a mother in California, she once again bears witness to the violent tentacles of her father’s legacy and her own family’s wellbeing is threatened when her husband speaks his mind. Fraught with treachery, love, and the desire to do what is right, Green Island tells an unforgettable story of a family caught in the middle of Taiwan’s complicated history as it transitioned from colonial rule to Martial Law to a democracy. Rendered with taut emotion, Shawna Yang Ryan explores the heartbreaking decisions parents make to save their families. -- Al Woodworth