Reader Review Wrap Up and Giveaway for Linda Petrucelli's Mother Tongue

Welcome to the Reader Review Event for Mother Tongue, a memoir that allows us to travel to another country, another time and another culture. Linda Petrucelli's musings on her time as a missionary in Taiwan in the 1980s includes both the joys and the challenges. Learn what our readers had to say and let this book be your first "summer getaway."

Reading Rev. Linda Petrucelli’s Mother Tongue was a deeply personal experience for me. My father, Hsiao Ching-fen, met Linda through his role as Tainan Seminary president early during her journey in 1980s Taiwan, and he even had the honor of giving her the name she would use throughout her mission, Bai Lian-da (“Virtuous Lotus”). 

 

The name was prescient. Linda dedicated herself to mastering the Taiwanese language at a time when learning and speaking it was an act of political defiance, participating in our island’s “quiet revolution” for democratic freedom. Her heartwarming story of embracing our mother tongue and culture is told with humor and grace, and it beautifully captures the resilience of the Taiwanese people and the courageous, grassroots movement that paved our way forward.

Mother Tongue is an engaging testament to the power of cross-cultural empathy and a must-read for all who cherish the hard-won freedoms we enjoy today.

— Bi-khim Hsiao, vice president of the Republic of China (Taiwan)

 About the Book:

Standing by the window, I tried to understand what happened to me to take such an unfathomable leap… What I hadn’t realized was that first, my one and only assignment would be to learn the language.”

In 1984, when Linda Petrucelli arrives in Taiwan with her husband Gary Hoff, she assumes she will learn Mandarin Chinese. Instead, her local church partner, the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, assigns her to learn Taiwanese, an eight-toned ancient tongue that few Westerners ever attempt. What began as a daunting assignment turns into a transformative journey of faith, identity, and resilience. Set during the world’s longest period of martial law, Mother Tongue offers candid insight into Taiwan’s nonviolent struggle toward democracy, the political power of language, and the universal search for belonging. In her odyssey to communicate in the island’s mother tongue, Linda learns the political implications of language, insight into her own ethnic identity, and the value of finding humor in her mistakes.

Publisher: Koehler Books

ISBN-13:   979-8897471195

ASIN:   B0GNCKK6QV

Print length: 178 pages

Genre: Memoir

Mother Tongue: A Memoir of Taiwan is available in print and as an ebook at Amazon, BooksaMillion and Barnes & Noble. Add it to your Goodreads list.

About the Author, Linda Petrucelli:

Linda Petrucelli's creative nonfiction essays have earned Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominations, and her fiction accolades include first place in the Women on Writing Fall 2018 Flash Fiction Contest. An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, Linda holds degrees from Yale Divinity School and Chicago Theological Seminary. For ten years, she served as a missionary in Taiwan, becoming fluent in the Taiwanese language. Her wide-ranging ministerial service includes work as a humanitarian relief executive in New York City and pastorates in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and on the Big Island of Hawaii. She now resides in Hawi, Hawaii, with her artist husband, Gary Hoff, and writes on the lanai of their tin-roofed rancher overlooking the ʼAlenuihāhā Channel.

Connect with the author

Website: http://lindapetrucelli.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LindaSPetrucelli/

IG: @linda.petrucelli

Here's what WOW! readers had to say about Mother Tongue by Linda Petrucelli:

Linda says:

Linda Petrucelli in her book, Mother Tongue: A Memoir of Taiwan, is a wonderful journey of faith, trust, kinship and awakening. From Iowa to Taiwan, we journey with her as she learns a language and traditions that are polar opposites to hers. The last line of the book says it all!

I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves travel, enjoys learning about new cultures and has deep spirituality. As a teacher of English as a second language, I could see myself communicating with my students. Thank you, Linda, for this amazing sojourn.

5 stars (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8605998484)

Karen says:

What a fascinating and satisfying story! The author and her artist husband were both in their 30s when they began their first of two tours in Taiwan. She perfectly conveys their sense of being fish out of water from the moment they land in Asia, immersed in a culture so different from their own. Many of their experiences are humorous; however, you can clearly feel their loneliness, confusion, frustration, and a sense of being completely off-balance in their early days. The author’s moments of success, even the smallest incidents, became causes for elation. The author perseveres, though, and finds her purpose, working to help and improve the lives of some of the neediest people. At the same time, she learns more about herself, her faith, and how she wants to live her best life.

I thoroughly enjoyed the vivid descriptions of the settings and the people Linda met throughout her time in Taiwan. I loved the connections she made with residents, especially the random encounters that made such a big impression on her and helped her at just the right moments in her journey.

 5 stars (https://www.amazon.com/review/R3V8V071JJLYUP/)

Amy says:

A spare, assured, quietly radiant debut...Humour keeps the missionary frame honest, from a tongue-twisting greeting offered to a wine-soaked Santa to the night she wins Best Actress in a televised folktale told entirely in Taiwanese, a tiger costume hiding a parable of resistance. The book deepens among fisher families and Indigenous communities, where her bookish faith becomes lived experience.

5 stars (https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mother-tongue-linda-petrucelli/1149470836)

Angela says:

Linda's writing style is warm and inviting; it felt like she was having a conversation with a friend as she related her anecdotes. Each chapter relayed a significant moment in her journey, even though they may seem small - from having to communicate with a doctor in Taiwanese while ill to giving a short sermon in the new language. Although this is a short memoir, Linda still manages to pack a lot in, giving the reader her insights into language, culture, gender roles, and politics.

5 stars (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8653514784)

Nicole says:

I've never had the honor of traveling outside of the U.S. And I'm always drawn to travel memoirs. This was a great one! I loved reading about her experiences in Taiwan. Reading about her learning process, understanding the language and the culture, and her experiences being in the area felt so vivid to me. It felt like I was right there with her. I also appreciated reading about her work in ministry. Definitely an interesting memoir I enjoyed reading!

5 stars (https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mother-tongue-linda-petrucelli/1149470836)

Jodi says:

We all dream of one time or another of having a grand adventure. Of course, safely in our dream world, everything goes perfectly according to plan during our grand adventure. Linda Petrucelli's memoir Mother Tongue is the tale of a grand adventure...but. We hired you to do this job...but instead do this job. You expected to learn this language...but instead try this language. Practice your conversational skills...but no one wants to talk this language.

This honest memoir shows us the reality behind the grand adventure pastor Linda Petrucelli took with her artist husband Gary Hoff. In addition to the excitement, the new friends, the surprises it also shows us the frustration, the fear, the jealousy, the confusion. Petrucelli paints a detailed picture of Taiwan with small details and snippets of life as she comes to terms with the real purpose of her time as a missionary.

If you wonder what it's like to be thrown into the deep end of the cultural pool, Mother Tongue is the memoir for you.

5 stars (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8587852049)

*****BOOK GIVEAWAY*****

Enter to win a print copy of Mother Tongue by Linda Petrucelli and a $25 Amazon gift card. Fill out the form below for a chance to win! The giveaway ends on Sunday, June 28 at 11:59 pm CT. We will randomly draw a winner the next day and follow up via email. Good luck!

Mother Tongue Giveaway

2 comments book giveaway, Linda Petrucelli, memoir, Mother Tongue, Reader Review Event, travel