The Paper Daughters of Chinatown

Starred review from May 15, 2020
During the 1800s, many Chinese immigrants in California worked for gold mining companies or the railroads and sent money home to their families. Prostitution proliferated in this mostly male society, aided by a loophole in the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act that led to the trafficking of young Chinese women. These paper daughters were given false paperwork asserting that they were married or related to a Chinese man working in the U.S.; when they arrived, they were sold into slavery as prostitutes. In San Francisco, the Occidental Mission Home was established to provide refuge and education for these women. Donaldina Dolly Cameron was originally hired to teach sewing for a year, but she ended up staying for almost four decades, mostly serving as superintendent. Moore focuses her extensively researched historical novel on Dolly's first 13 years at the home as she evolves from an ambivalent outsider to a passionate advocate leading dangerous raids, testifying in court, and rescuing more than 3,000 trafficked women. Dolly's story unfolds alongside, and ultimately merges with, that of Mei Lien, a paper daughter who leaves her impoverished mother for what she believes is an arranged marriage in America, but upon arrival is enslaved. Recommend to fans of compelling, character-driven historical fiction inspired by true events, such as Lisa Wingate's Before We Were Yours (2017).Women in Focus: The 19th in 2020(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

September 1, 2020

Donaldina "Dolly" Cameron is just 26 when she comes to work at the Occidental Mission Home for Girls in 1895 San Francisco. She is quickly moved by the plight of the Chinese girls she meets there. Called "paper daughters" because of the falsified paperwork their abusers filed to get them into the country, they were trapped in lives of sexual slavery before coming to the mission. Dolly develops a mother-daughter relationship with her charges and soon knows she has found her life's calling, Prolific author Moore (Lady of Breken Manor) tells the story of a real-life crusader who, strongly motivated by her Christian faith, fought fiercely on behalf of her "daughters" even when doing so placed her own life in danger. VERDICT Some readers may be disappointed that the Chinese characters in the novel are not nearly as well developed as Dolly is and that the mission's insistence that they give up their own culture to convert to Christianity is not questioned. However, many readers will find Dolly's bravery and commitment to her faith inspirational, and Moore's impressively detailed research makes this a good introduction to this often neglected chapter in American history.--Mara Bandy Fass, Champaign P.L., IL

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