{"product_id":"the-concubines-children-isbn-9780143192091","title":"The Concubine's Children","description":"\u003ci\u003e The Concubine's Children \u003c\/i\u003e is the story of a family cleaved in two for the sake of a father’s dream. In 1913, Chan Sam left an “at home” wife in China to earn a living in “Gold Mountain.” Eleven years later, May-ying, the wilful, seventeen-year-old concubine he bought, sight unseen, travels to join him where she labors in tea houses of west coast Chinatowns to support the family in Canada, and the one in China. It was the concubine’s third daughter, the author’s mother, who unlocked the past for her daughter whose curiosity about some old photographs ultimately reunited a family divided for most of the last century. Heartfelt and beautifully written, \u003ci\u003eThe Concubine's Children\u003c\/i\u003e is an inspiring story of the sacrifice that tore a family apart and the love that bound them back together.\u003cb\u003eFinalist for the Governor General's Award\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNational Bestseller\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Beautiful, haunting and wise, it lingers in the mind like a portrait one returns to often in a family album, and elicits the same mysterious response of love, melancholy and pride.” —\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“An exceptional work of family history…. [A] perfectly wonderful book. As a work of history and memoir, \u003ci\u003eThe Concubine’s Children\u003c\/i\u003e has the narrative flow of fiction; as a work of invention, it has the persuasive force of the truth. It deserves a large and admiring readership.” —Jonathan Yardley, \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“An utterly absorbing tale of life lived, spiritually speaking, astride the globe…. A meticulously researched social and political history, \u003ci\u003eThe Concubine’s Children\u003c\/i\u003e is, above all, a moving portrait of a people for whom the ethos of family and home was so deeply ingrained that entire lifetimes were sacrificed to it.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Globe and Mail\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Engaging and compelling…. Thanks to Chong’s honesty and courage, \u003ci\u003eThe Concubine’s Children\u003c\/i\u003e makes family history come alive against the backdrop of two widely diverse nations.” —\u003ci\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A seamless weave of family, politics and history…. Extraordinary.” —\u003ci\u003eOttawa Citizen\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A heart-rending chronicle.” —\u003ci\u003eToronto Star\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A superbly told saga.” —\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“An intriguing family history.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Gazette\u003c\/i\u003e (Montreal)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Absorbing…. [L]ucid…. The intelligence and spare eloquence of the writing makes the story flow like a movie in the reader’s head. It’s at once an historical record of the development of the Canadian-Chinese community and a personal coming-to-terms within a family.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Daily News\u003c\/i\u003e (Halifax)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Startling and moving…. Though this reads like a well-plotted novel, it’s a story of families and ambition and battered, shattered hopes, proof—[if] proof is needed—that truth is often stranger than fiction.” —\u003ci\u003eThunder Bay Sunday\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Inspiring…. [C]ompelling…. [A] meticulously detailed family history that often readers like fiction, \u003ci\u003eThe Concubine’s Children\u003c\/i\u003e takes the reader through a social landscape I suspect few of us know existed. It’s well worth a visit.” —\u003ci\u003eThe StarPhoenix\u003c\/i\u003e (Saskatoon)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Told in a compassionate and forthright manner, this book makes sense out of the lives of many Chinese who came to the West to search for gold. In this respect, it is even better in form and content than the fictionalized works of Amy Tan. Recommended for all collections.” —\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“With great narrative power [Chong] has skillfully interwoven her own insights with relatives’ memories and letters as well as the history of China and Chinese in Canada…. A valuable contribution.” —\u003ci\u003eEdmonton Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A vivid portrait.” —\u003ci\u003eWinnipeg Free Press\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“An eloquent, unsentimental act of love, prompted by the writer’s contagious desire to makes sense of her origins.” —\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Remarkably … gripping and wonderfully engrossing. Chong’s family saga should take a well-earned place alongside … \u003ci\u003eLife and Death in Shanghai\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eChina Men\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eWild Swans\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Joy Luck Club.\u003c\/i\u003e” —\u003ci\u003eThe London Free Press\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A gripping story of people caught in the struggle to realize their dreams…. The value of history … cannot be overrated.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Vancouver Sun\u003c\/i\u003eDENISE CHONG is the author of the family memoir \u003ci\u003eThe Concubine's Children\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eThe Girl in the Picture\u003c\/i\u003e, a story of the napalm girl from the Vietnam War; and \u003ci\u003eEgg on Mao\u003c\/i\u003e, a portrayal of human rights in China. She worked in the public service at the Department of Finance and was the senior economic advisor in the Prime Minister’s Office of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. In 2013, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. She lives with her family in Ottawa.","brand":"Penguin Canada","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46300009726181,"sku":"NP9780143192091","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780143192091.jpg?v=1767738812","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/the-concubines-children-isbn-9780143192091","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}