Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeline Thien

"It was as if the story came from the room itself: a conversation overheard,

a piece of music still circling the air"

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Do Not Say We Have Nothing was a mesmerising, ambitious saga, filled with a cast of beautifully developed characters. Thematically this novel has a huge scope, exploring notions of musicality, identity, social history, class and loyalty.

Do Not Say We Have Nothing charts the history of two families, and their experiences of conflict and persecution within China. Our narrator for much of the story is Marie, a young girl living in Canada with her Chinese Mother, following the disappearance and subsequent suicide of her father. Soon after his death, they are joined by Ai Ming, the daughter of a family friend. Like the generations we meet that came before her, Ai Ming has been swept up in political violence and has been forced to flee her home.

Thien's narrative tells the story of three generations, skipping between them easily. Though separated by time and place, each of the characters are bound together by a handwritten manuscript, which is rewritten at several points throughout the novel. It is this story that exemplifies one of the novels most significant themes, the revision of history and identity. The characters are constantly tweaking the work of fiction, each desperate to hold some power over lives which are too often dominated by external powers.

"From eighths to sixteenths then three times as fast, the notes chipped into one another, every note had to touch the air, make its singular gestures and elaborate this unending melody"

Each of the character's in the novel are desperately searching for identity, which is lost as they flee cities, take new names, and are forced to hide their passions. It is through music that they are able to express raw emotion regardless of the dangers playing the wrong series of notes can bring. Simultaneously music is used as a hideaway- a place of solitude to block out the threats of the outside world. One of the most harrowing moments of the novel comes as a central character walks through the once reassuring halls of the music school, only to find the walls coated in hate-filled propaganda. In Thien's novels even the domain of escape offers limited security, leaving the reader to hope some salvation is at hand.

This is by no means an easy, escapist read, but it is certainly an important one. Thien puts a very human face to decades of violence. Throughout the novel lyricism and passion are pitted helplessly against authoritative violence, yet in spite of this a feeling of hope seeps through the page.