chinese americans

Shanghai Girls tells the story of two sisters, Pearl and May. They were known as "beautiful girls", meaning that they posed for artists who used the paintings for "beautiful girl" posters, calendars and various advertisements. The girls lived what was, to them, an enchanted life. Until one day their world was turned upside down by their father informing them that he had arranged marriages for them both. They were to marry brothers who were Chinese but lived in America, specifically, Los Angelos. This was definitely not the future the two forward looking sisters had envisioned for themselves

Lisa See returns to her Lydia Chin/Bill Smith mystery series with The Shanghai Moon. It has been so long since the last Chin/Smith mystery that I have forgotten what exactly happened between these two characters. No matter - it is alluded to briefly in the beginning of the book, but then things pick up the pace and we get back on track solving mysteries. I really enjoy reading these books because I really like the main characters. Well, mostly Lydia. I love reading about her life going back and forth between Chinese culture and American culture. I like getting an inside peek at her apartment

Despite setbacks of his own making, Ralph Chang is ultimately successful in achieving his goal of a PhD in engineering. He marries Helen, a woman his family would have approved of, and despite some odd ideas about love and marriage, starts a family. He, Helen, and his sister Theresa all live quite happily, surrounded by "typical Americans". Until American-born Chinese Grover enters the picture. With Grover comes prosperity and happy times, but also imbalance and confusion. As the lives of Ralph and his family become inter-twined with Grover’s, they become more and more like “typical Americans”