Dear Gossips,
Today is Mid-Autumn Festival or Harvest Moon Festival, one of the most important holidays of the lunar calendar, which is commonly observed in East Asia, and known in Chinese culture as Chinese Thanksgiving. This is why you may have seen moon cakes everywhere. I don’t love a moon cake but I have always loved Mid-Autumn Festival. I always associate it with my ma. She’s the one who told me the legend of Angel and Hero and how Mid-Autumn Festival came to be.
This is how it is in many cultures, non? The women are the safekeepers of the stories, passing down tales and traditions to the next generation. That’s what Christina Matula shares in her new book, The Shadow in the Moon, illustrated by Pearl Law, about two sisters discovering the meaning of Mid-Autumn Festival from their Ah-ma and learning how to give thanks.
Christina is a Canadian author who now lives in Hong Kong. The Shadow in the Moon is her first book and it’s available now.
Wishing you and yours a Happy Mid-Autumn Festival tonight. Eat a lot. Laugh a lot. And may the Harvest Moon bless us with what we need.
Yours in gossip,
Lainey
