The Phoenix Pencil Company A Novel

A book about journaling and the meaning of stories as a connection between humans. Monica Tsai lives with her grandparents in the Boston area. She‘s an undergrad and involved in the development of a new app called EMBRS. The purpose is to dig through journals and find connections to other people with the same interests (sparking). Her grandmother is diagnosed with dementia. Monica wants to find her grandmas cousin Meng to reunite them after a lifetime. They both grew up in Shanghai. Their mothers had a pencil company. They lived together. During the 2nd world war the pencils became a secret weapon for the intelligence. Because there was one special gift the women of the family had: they could Reforge the pencils and learn about the words and messages the owners of the pencils wrote with them. After the war the family split up because they chose separate sides: Monicas grandmother and her parents moved to Taiwan because they believed in the nationalists movement. And Meng and her mother stayed in Shanghai under the communists regime. Monicas grandmother Yun believed she would move back to Shanghai. But the intelligence officer sent her to America to set up an undercover mission and use her magic to identify dissidents. It was the most distressing period of her life. Monica finally finds Meng through Louise. Louise is studying at Princeton but thinks of changing her major. She‘s very unsure of it because her parents would disapprove. Louise feels lonely and in need of a anchor. Monica and Louise start a shy relationship. The book is a intricate and delicate rendering of the need to share one‘s story. But there are also stories that need to be forgotten. And you should think carefully about the ways you manufacture a story.