In Canada in 1991, ten-year-old Marie and her mother invite a guest into their home. Ai-Ming has fled China in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square protests. As her relationship with Marie deepens, Ai-Ming tells the story of her family in revolutionary China, from the crowded teahouses in the first days of Chairman Mao’s ascent to the Beijing demonstrations of 1989. And she speaks of three musicians, the shy and brilliant composer Sparrow, the violin prodigy Zhuli, and the enigmatic pianist Kai, who struggled during China’s relentless Cultural Revolution to remain loyal to one another and to the music they have devoted their lives to. Their fates reverberate through the years, with deep and lasting consequences for Ai-Ming and for Marie. Do Not Say We Have Nothing magnificently brings to life one of the most significant political regimes of the 20th century and its traumatic legacy.
