Kristina McMorris’s latest historical fiction novel is rooted in America’s anti-Chinese prejudices in the the late 19th century. The central character is Celia Hart, half-Chinese by birth, who is able to pass for white, hired as a nanny to the daughter of a wealthy Portland, Oregon, family. and develops a relationship with the girl’s older brother. When both the relationship and her ethnicity are discovered, she is exiled to a position as a cleaning girl in a brothel. A substantial portion of the book is backstory to these events involving several atrocities against the Chinese railroad and mine workers in the western U.S. during the time period. McMorris’s research is excellent and her writing enjoyable. The pacing of the story is sometimes slowed by the frequent switching between the backstory mostly set in 1885) and the fictional present of 1888, but comes together in the end. Themes of family loyalty, ethnic prejudice,political intrigue, and violence against women are well-developed and dealt with. I enjoyed the book.
I was interested in reading this book since I had taken a tour of the Portland Tunnels about five years ago. Kristina McMorris did an excellent job of describing them - I felt I was back in the tunnels once again. The story, however, seemed so unbelievable. Celia’s adventures felt contrived - for example, staying at the brothel for so long without being forced to work as a prostitute, her escape from the ship after being shanghaied, and Stephen’s return. Aprile nailed it perfectly when she compared it to the Perils of Pauline.
Yes Dianne. There definitely were too many improbable twists and turns.
at that point I feel like I expected it. It is certainly hard to put myself in the shoes of someone with so many communications challenges!
Unfortunately, I was disappointed. The book did not meet my expectations. The story was fine, but I think it would make a better movie than a book, given the way it was written. The writing was subpar and brought the whole book down. Interestingly, in the acknowledgments, the author thanks her breakout Zoom gang, which includes several authors whose books I have not particularly liked, in the much the same way that I did not care for this book.
I also had a hard time believing in her escape from SF to Portland.
For me, it was a bit overdone!