The Concubine's Children Paperback by Denise Chong

Product Details

• Publisher: Penguin Canada (2014-08-19)
• Language: English
• Paperback: 288 pages
• ISBN-13: 9780143192091
• Item Weight: 215.46 grams
• Dimensions: 7.68 x 5.04 x 0.72 cm

The Concubine's Children 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, The Concubine's Children is an inspiring story of the sacrifice that tore a family apart and the love that bound them back together.

About the Author

DENISE CHONG is the author of the family memoir The Concubine's Children; The Girl in the Picture, a story of the napalm girl from the Vietnam War; and Egg on Mao, 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.