TORONTO - Madeleine Thien says she wished her late mother was still alive to see her win the 100-thousand dollar Scotiabank Giller Prize.
The Montreal-based writer received the nod last night for her book "Do Not Say We Have Nothing."
It involves three Chinese musicians who are studying Western classical music at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in the 1960s and explores the revolution that occurred under Mao Zedong and the many political campaigns that pulled apart people's lives.
Thien says her mother died too young and taught her how to be kind and how to be brave.
Honours and acclaim have poured in for the Vancouver-born writer, who recently received the Governor General's Literary Award for fiction for her bestselling novel.
The book was also shortlisted for the prestigious Man Booker Prize.
The Giller jury described the book as a beautiful homage to music and to the human spirit
