Book Description 

Monica Tsai spends most days on her computer, journaling the details of her ordinary life and coding for a program that seeks to connect strangers online. A self-proclaimed recluse, she’s always struggled to make friends and, as a college freshman, finds herself escaping into a digital world, counting the days until she can return home to her beloved grandparents. They are now in their nineties, and Monica worries about them constantly—especially her grandmother, Yun, who survived two wars in China before coming to the States, and whose memory has begun to fade.

Though Yun rarely speaks of her past, Monica is determined to find the long-lost cousin she was separated from years ago. One day, the very program Monica is helping to build connects her to a young woman, whose gift of a single pencil holds a surprising clue. Monica’s discovery of a hidden family history is exquisitely braided with Yun’s own memories as she writes of her years in Shanghai, working at the Phoenix Pencil Company. As WWII rages outside their door, Yun and her cousin, Meng, learn of a special power the women in their family possess: the ability to Reforge a pencil’s words. But when the government uncovers their secret, they are forced into a life of espionage, betraying other people’s stories to survive.

Combining the cross-generational family saga and epistolary form of A Tale for the Time Being with the uplifting, emotional magic of The Midnight Library, Allison King’s stunning debut novel asks: who owns and inherits our stories? The answers and secrets that surface on the page may have the unerasable power to reconnect a family and restore a legacy. 

My Review 

This book was a fascinating combination of historical fiction and magic/fantasy. Monica has always heard her grandmother Yun’s stories about growing up in China, but much of that part of her grandmother’s life is tinged with tragedy due to the wars. However, Monica is inspired by her family’s history as she embarks on a computer programming project and uses information as a data point. She’s shocked when she gets a “hit” on the information and is thrilled by the possibility of finally filling in the missing pieces of her grandmother’s story. 

The timeline is split between the present day and Monica’s efforts to reconnect her family, and Yun’s youth in China, including her friendship with her cousin Meng before the two young women were separated by time and circumstance. 

I want to touch upon the element of magic/fantasy; the blurb alludes to “reforging” and while I don’t want to give away specifics, I will say that this process is achieved through a process that is incompatible with the laws of physics and logic and all other earthly explanation. In short, it’s magic, there is tremendous potential for the power to be exploited, and that is why the secret must be guarded at all costs. 

I would absolutely recommend The Phoenix Pencil Company. I loved both timelines and found the characters to be interesting and well-rounded. One of my favorite scenes involved Monica tracking down her grandmother’s favorite meal. Not only was grandmother’s choice surprising, but the scene manages to be simple in its execution while containing implications that had such a deep meaning… especially when there’s a throwback later on in the book. This is such a good debut novel and I am going to keep my eye out for more from King in the future. 

I received a digital ARC of this book from William Morrow/NetGalley.