A Long and Speaking Silence

Told with remarkable compassion and grace, the elegant seventh installment in Vo’s Hugo Award–winning Singing Hills Cycle series (after A Mouthfull of Dust) flashes back to the beginning of protagonist Chih’s career as a cleric. Less than a year into their partnership with Almost Brilliant, a memory spirit in the form of a hoopoe bird, Chih, whose primary job is to record people’s stories, is stranded in the river city of Luntien after someone picks their pocket. So they take a gig waiting tables at Certain Compassion in exchange for food (described in loving, mouth-watering detail) and board. Tensions are high in Luntien as refugees from the war-torn Verdant Island, or Muyi, stream into the port. The local Temple of the Lady of the Thousand Hands is barred from turning anyone away, but that doesn’t mean the refugees are well received. As Chih endearingly struggles to find their footing as both a waiter and a cleric, they attempt to broker peace between the locals and the outsiders, take down lists of the refugees’ family members to carry with them in their travels, and investigate a gentle mystery about Certain Compassion’s late owner. Vo imbues all of her characters with dignity and depth, creating a moving, nuanced portrait of a refugee crisis. Complete with a thoughtful meditation on which stories are committed to history and which are lost, this proves another high note for the series. (May)