The Porcelain Moon by Janie Chang REVIEW

 "But I don't want to get married, she thought." 

So starts the story of two women at the end of WWI, a beautifully written historical novel that weaves together themes of love, war, and identity in a time of great upheaval. Set in France during the final days of World War I, the story focuses on two women, Pauline Deng and Camille Roussel, whose lives intersect under the shadow of war.

Pauline, a Chinese woman fleeing an arranged marriage, seeks refuge in France with her cousin, only to find herself caught between conflicting loyalties. 

Camille, a young French woman, harbors secrets of her own, 

Together, their stories reveal the complexities of gender, race, and survival during a turbulent time in history.

Chang’s writing is lush and evocative, painting a vivid picture of the characters' inner and outer worlds. Her attention to historical detail brings this lesser-known aspect of World War I to life, shedding light on the contributions and struggles of Chinese laborers in Europe. 

Highly recommended read for historical fiction fans looking for something fresh and deeply moving.

The Paper Daughters of Chinatown by Heather Moore

A powerful story based on true events surrounding Donaldina Cameron and other brave women who fought to help Chinese-American women escape discrimination and slavery in the late 19th century in California.

When Donaldina Cameron arrives at the Occidental Mission Home for Girls in 1895, she intends to teach sewing skills to young Chinese women immigrants, but, within days, she discovers that the job is much more complicated than perfect stitches and even hems. San Francisco has a dark side, one where a powerful underground organization--the criminal tong--brings Chinese young women to America to sell them as slaves. With the help of Chinese interpreters and the Chinatown police squad, Donaldina becomes a tireless social reformer to stop the abominable slave and prostitution trade.

Mei Lien believes she is sailing to the "Gold Mountain" in America to become the wife of a rich Chinese man. Instead she finds herself sold into prostitution--beaten, starved, and forced into an opium addiction. It is only after a narrow escape that she hears of the mission home and dares to think there might be hope for a new life.

Opening line:
""From a woman, and she a pretty, fair-spoken Scotch maiden, this slave trade took its hardest blow--playing her desperate lone hand she reduced the traffic by about one-half.""

This is a heart-wrenching, moving, beautiful story of one amazingly strong woman making a change, one Chinese-American girl at a time told by a masterful storyteller.

In 1895, Donaldina, or Dolly as she preferred to be called, moved to the Occidental Mission home for Girls in San Francisco. She believed she would be teaching sewing, but she ended up doing much, much more for these girls who were brought to America with the belief, and lies, that they would marry rich men and be able to send money home to their families. 

The girls were beaten, abused, sold into slavery and brothels and denied any human rights. Dolly and a small band of helpers worked tireless to save the girls and stop the human trafficking. She saved thousands of girls, got them legal paperwork, hence the name "Paper Daughters," so they could leave the 'homes' and 'uncles' who claimed the girls as their family. 

There are alternating chapters with Dolly's story of a fictional character of Mei Lien, one of the girls Dolly helps rescue. Mei's story brings the horror of what the girls go through from the lens of one the abused. Her story is tragic, hopeful and learned strength.

The mission home, and it's members, survived illegal searches, threats, shootings, beatings, and even survived the 1906 Earthquake. What was amazing to me during this part of Dolly's history was that she went back into the mission home and saved all the paperwork of the girls because she was worried she wouldn't have proof of the girls legality and the 'uncle's would try and take them back. From my knowledge, all legal documents (birth, marriage, death certificates etc) in San Francisco were burned except the ones Dolly was able to save (and some family's who were able to save their papers. But those are very few). 

Heather Moore not only has talent for weaving a dramatic and endearing story, she excels in research and bringing her research to life in a way that makes the reader read on and learn. I hope this author writes more books about #strongwomen We need their stories.


Thanks to netgalley for the early read.

9 Books I Will Never Forget

We do not have a lack of reading material in the world. There are so many AMAZING books out in the world! I wish I had time to read all of them. I wish I could put one under my pillow ever night and wake up the next day having the entire book in my memory. Some I might want to forget. Some might leave me thinking about the story/characters/plot for the rest of the day.

For that last list, here are eleven books that I will never forget:

I loved the writing, the people and especially the slow-burn romance.

I lovedlovedloved the relationships in this story!

 911 was an event that shook the world. Millions grieved for the lost of lives in such a hostile act. This book tells the story of a people in Kenya who wanted give what little they had to the American people.

A heavy, enlightening, hopeful book about a mother and the ramifications of a single act of her son. 

I had no inkling of the misery the Chinese went through under Mao. The depravity, the deaths of scholars, teachers, poets; basically anyone smarter and more creative disappeared. Nien Cheng survived.

What if dragons didn't horde gold? What if they horded shoes...and poodles? I loved the way this story made me think differently.

 
Audrey was in the Netherlands when the Germans invaded. The people naively thought that they would be left alone, just like during WWI. They were terrifyingly wrong.

The story of the author's 10th great grandmother, who was tried and hung for being a witch in Salem. 
This story hurt my heart and made me wonder if I would be part of those who would condemn or be condemned?

The arrogance of man thinking he is the one to change people for the better good, but can't even grow squash because he is too quick to judge and believe he is God.