Category: historical fiction

Paper Wife by Laila Ibrahim

Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an advance reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion. Book to be released on Oct. 30, 2018.
Writing: 3/5 Characters: 4.5/5 Plot: 4/5

A gripping, and ultimately uplifting, tale highlighting a piece of American immigrant history. The date is 1923 and Mei Ling is an 18-year old girl in Guangdong Province whose family fortune has suffered “the triple devastation of war, famine, and disease.” With little warning, she finds herself a “paper wife” — married to a stranger (and mother to a two-year old named Bo) under the false name of his recently deceased wife in order to enter America. Her true identity is buried under a second layer — her elder sister was the intended bride, but a last minute illness forced the substitution. Mei Ling must keep this quiet as her husband is expecting a timid Rabbit wife and is instead receiving a fierce Dragon.

The story follows Mei Ling through her wedding, the trip in steerage to San Francisco, her new family, including a six-year old orphan named Siew whom she meets on the boat, and immigration through Angel Island. Beautiful and detailed descriptions of San Francisco and Oakland Chinatowns, the people she meets, the lives they lead, and the way different people try to succeed in the new country. I love that each of the characters (even the unpleasant ones) has real depth — the author did not resort to stereotypes in this fictionalized account of a Chinese immigrant experience. The story takes some surprising turns as Mei Ling the Dragon takes steps to maintain harmony and protect her family.

As a way of setting the context, the book’s epigraph comprises a single disturbing quote from then President Rutherford B. Hayes: “I am satisfied the present Chinese labor invasion (it is not in any proper sense immigration — women and children do not come) is pernicious and should be discouraged. Our experience in dealing with the weaker races — the negroes and the Indians, for example — is not encouraging.” Ugh.

Time’s Convert by Deborah Harkness

Writing: 3.5/5 Characters: 3.5/5 Story: 4.5/5

Time’s Convert is a companion novel to Harkness’ All Souls Trilogy featuring further adventures (and backstories) for the de Clermont family and its associated array of creatures (Vampires, Witches, and Daemons). Not your typical “creature” book, these stories focus more on the sociology, psychology, and anthropology of a world simultaneously populated by both humans and such beings, and less on aggression, fear, and battles. It explores the maturation of individual Vampires and of an integrated society as a whole. Diversity writ large.

The three intertwined tales — Phoebe Taylor becomes a Vampire so she can mate with Markus; Markus’ historical tale of becoming a vampire 200 years before; and Diana (Witch) and Matthew’s (Vampire) young twins as they become new creatures with both Vampire and Witch blood — are all about growing up — understanding who you are and how you fit in society. The characters in these different threads are defining and following their own code of ethics, moving beyond the code imposed by the head of the de Clermont family in a clear progression up the levels of Kohlberg’s stages of moral development. Not what I expect from a traditional (and usually boring) vampire story!

The author is a Professor of History at USC, specializing in the study of science and medicine from antiquity to the present. The book is suffused with intriguing and historically accurate tidbits from the American and French revolutions — characters such as Ben Franklin, Dr. Guillotin, Lafayette, and Marat play roles in the story and Thomas Paine’s Common Sense is key to Markus’ development (with great quotes such as “Folks are always in favor of fairness until they have to give up something they have to someone else” spread liberally throughout — I need to reread the pamphlet!).

This book had less action and less romance and more character development, history, and a kind of cerebral world building in it which really appealed to me. A surprisingly good (and fast) read.