In San Francisco’s Chinatown circa 1903, slavery, polygamy and rampant prostitution are thriving – just blocks away from the Golden City’s elite.Wealthy and well-connected, Will Firestone enters the mysterious enclave with an eye toward expanding his shipping business. What he finds there will astonish him. With the help of an exotic young widow and a gifted teenage orphan, he embarks on a … journey of self-discovery, where lust, love and tragedy will change his life forever.
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I enjoyed the characters and the were believable and relateable.
The reason I am giving this book only three stars is because the author did what a lot of historical fiction writers do: put todays ideas and values on the past. Sure, there were probably people in the early 20th century that thought the Chinese in CA were being misused and severely discriminated against, and there might even have been a few people that weren’t offended by gay men, but they would have been few and far between and wouldn’t have all ended up in one book. Also, since this was the second book in the series I went back to read a synopsis of the first book and then was somewhat offended by the minor roles Gus and Lia were given. In fact, I really was only going to give the story one or two stars until the ending. At least not everyone got killed off in the 1906 earthquake which you knew was coming from the very beginning of the story.
I enjoyed reading this book. I would call it a historical romance. Little violence and only implied sex…and a happy ending. It was a LITTLE slow but the story kept drawing me in. Good way to spend time while social distancing.
Since I was a little girl, I have always been haunted by the practice of binding women’s feet as being a sign of beauty! This book brings to mind some of the hardships suffered by the early Chinese immigrants that some people may not know. Also the terrible snobbery suffered by the supposed class differences.
I liked the book very much.
Good historical fiction. Similar pandemic problems in early 20th century.
I cannot say enough wonderful things about this book… I loved everything: the characters are so beautifully written I cried when the book ended! Excellent story! I highly recommend it!
A historical look at post gold rush San Francisco..delving into China Town, slave trade, our prejudices. Also characters who live in your heart, as Asian and Americans discover one another
Enjoyed the characters and plot. Learned alot about Chinatown during that period.
Started slowly, but a great read.
Enjoyed such a strong insightful woman in that era. Story well tied together.
It told you about the Asian and White societies in San Francisco in the early 1900s. A light read , man meets girl, saves the orphan girl, they all live happily ever after. And the man has money, so no problem there.
One of the better books in its genre.
Wonderful historical fiction. Well written with colorful characters.
I really enjoyed this book, very few slow parts. The main character, Mandy was well defined in her character. Toward the end she did something that truly surprised me. I wanted the story to go on or have an epilogue
Left me wanting more of this storyline!!
Decent characters and plot. Could’ve been very good but the last chapters wandered off with no denoument. Wouldn’t read any more in series.
Great series. Read them all.
Just liked the story
An interesting look at a time and place in American history that gets very little attention…when I think about San Francisco at the start of the 20th Century, I seldom bring much more to mind other than the disastrous earthquake and fire… the characters and story line of this book provide a much better appreciation of what life at that time, and in that place, must have been like
Good character development. Interesting history of San Francisco China Town interspersed. Obviously well researched.