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!
I like historical fiction that is not WW2. I’ve read many WW2 books so this was interesting I gave it 4 stars. I like the author
This was a very good historical fiction book.
Historical fiction is my favorite genre.
Same! This is the reason I adore historical fiction-great storyline with a history lesson blended in. It’s still amazing to me how many groups have been discriminated against and still continue to be based purely on looks, beliefs, and other ridiculous reasons. So many people need to read and educate themselves with books like this. I learned so much with this one.
The story itself was interesting, showing some of the challenges of Chinese Americans. I was unsurprised at the treatment of the Chinese because it seems to always be a part our history that new groups are singled out for persecution.
All in all, I was disappointed in the book. Parts seemed very realistic with surprising moments. Celia appears to be so naive throughout, although she certainly had good fortune in spite, or because of, her naïveté. I just couldn’t find her character to be believable.
The timeline was my primary complaint with the book. I felt that the story would have been clearer with a straightforward chronological narrative. It wouldn’t have taken away any of the suspense or momentum by keeping it to a traditional timeline, in my opinion. Sometimes, I feel that historical fiction writers can’t bring themselves to break out of the dual timeframe mold. I hope there is a new trend to break this habit - and The Girls of Good Fortune would have been the perfect book to initiate it!
I so agree. I learned a great deal and am visiting Portland this fall and perhaps the tunnels still exist. The suspense seemed so contrived from finding herself, in male disguise, kidnapped to work on a ship, to hopping a freight car to landing in jail/asylum to finding her true love sitting in an opium den. Too much, too packed in. Pick any two, elongate those storylines and this book would have been far crisper
I found the plot to be suspenseful, and I learned a great deal about this time in history. Many of the characters were sympathetic, and the storyline eventually came together in interesting ways. That being said, like some others here, I struggled a bit with the melodrama, the coincidences, and some of the characters whose behavior seemed implausible. I also found some of the writing awkward. Even so, I’m glad I read the book, and I find that I keep thinking about it even though I finished it a few weeks ago. Now I’m thinking about reading more of McMorris’ work, and I’m intrigued by others’ descriptions of “Sold on a Monday.” No book is perfect, and this one certainly has much to recommend it.
Sold on a Monday was excellent.
I wasn’t a fan of her book The Ways We Hide. It didn’t grab my attention and was slow until the last quarter. It was very interesting, but wasn’t a favorite.
Her author notes in the back have wonderful facts.
Enjoy the ones you read.
I was interested in the historical aspects of the book, especially learning about how the Chinese were treated in the late 1880s. I did not know about the Chinese Exclusion Act, the tunnels in Portland, and the murders and mistreatment of the Chinese. The first half of the story was the most interesting for me, while the last part seemed less believable.
I agree with April’s. I only finished the book because I felt obligated to.
No. That was my expectation. Celia would never have been deemed a suitable wife for Matthew.
I wasn’t crazy about it. Not her best book.
I loved the story. I was never aware of this happening nor about the tunnels.
It would have ripped my heart out if it would have been me. She could only believe what his parents told her and even though she believed Stephen loved her, with him in a different country and their communication shut off she had no way of knowing for sure.