The Concubine's Daughter

The book was going fine until about page 120 when an Englishman jumps from his mighty ship into somewhere in China to save the heroine. Oh, please. I know this is a novel but to call it historical requires research does it not? The author seems to be indulging in his fantasies. Just read the author's note. I will stick to my books about China by Amy Tan and Lisa See and others who do their homework.

The Concubine's Daughter Pai Kit Fai What a vividly written, well-paced historical novel! After reading the first chapter of The Concubine's Daughter I paused and thought, "Well, okay, the first chapter is supposed to be dramatic, holding the reader's attention, but can this novel maintain both speed of moving the plot and depth of cultural story to hold my interest?" Answer, "Yes, and it goes on without stop." Just when I thought I could predict the way the plot was going to go the author suddenly throws in a dramatic change or shocking violent act that surprised me and impelled me to read further along. The harsh, unbearable lives of Chinese girls and women a century and more ago is part of the historical record. Foot binding as a way to achieve beauty was common among the upper classes or for those girls intended to be sold into higher society. Beatings and starvation of the woman as a beast of burden was part of that historical culture. If you choose to read this book, get ready for that reality. The life of Li Xia, the Beautiful One, was most interesting to me, at least until swashbuckling, prince charming showed up and changed her life. That part of the book became a little mundane because I am not that interested in romance novels. But the deprivations of an intelligent little girl, locked in a shed for several years of her life, who ultimately escapes to camp life at a silk farm and learns group social skills and secrets of womanhood from an old worker, Pebbles succeeds. For me, it was a gripping read. One of the riches of this novel is the use of several ancient Chinese myths in the lives of the characters. The story of the Fox Fairy helps with understanding how little Li Xia emotionally survives cruelty and deprivation. She gets help from Number Three wife secretly and learns compassion, but it is her imaginings of her dead mother the ghost, the Fox Fairy, that saves her. It gives her a powerful sense of identity and explains the courage with which she faces future situations. The power of the human mind to sustain itself in times of trouble is shown through mythology and superstition. I think the way Pai Kt Fai uses this myth and presents the psychological state of someone experiencing sensory deprivation work exceptionally well. I admire this kind of writing with layer upon layer showing rather than telling the story. An added aspect to this book is an Author Interview section at the end. Pai Kit Fai is quite an interesting woman who has written a fine and exciting novel of historical China.

"The Concubine's Daughter" is a novel that captured me from the very beginning and never let me go. Nearly flawless writing draws the reader into an exotic world peopled by complex, interesting characters and retains its grip on that reader throughout the book. Pai Kit Fai displays a depth of knowledge with respect to Chinese culture, mores, and the social fabric of society which strengthens the story. She incorporates numerous aspects of those elements as they existed during the first half of the 20th century, in addition to personal tragedies, romances, and dramatic action - all meld together to form a complete story. While there are violent, sometimes repulsive portions contained in this book, they are not gratuitous and are not major sections which would cause the reader to set the book aside. They do play an important role in helping the reader understand the novel's setting and the environment in which the action occurs. Spanning three generations of Chinese women, beginning with the concubine Pai-Ling and progressing to her daughter Li-Xia, the book ends with Li-Xia's daughter, Su Sing and her completion of the lifelong quest set before her as an infant. Several reviewers have provided fine synopses of the novel; I have chosen not to repeat that information. Each of the three main female protagonists is developed well as an individual. Each of the three women must face challenges which would have broken weaker individuals. Each rises to meet her own challenge, conquering the man or men who would destroy her individuality and sense of self. Nevertheless, in order to deny a man final mastery over their own lives, both Pai-Ling and Li-Xia ultimately destroy themselves. Only Su Sing is given the way, through the intervention of her father's trusted amah Fish, to finally triumph and survive. Pai Kit Fai is adept at portraying each character, even minor ones, as a complete individual. The main characters are individuals one would be proud to call "friend." Pai Kit Fai provides enough back-story about each minor character to engage the reader and pique one's interest without overwriting the sub-story. Further, each character's background is sufficiently interesting for the reader to hope Pai Kit Fai will write a novel in which that individual is the main character. I recommend this novel to anyone interested in becoming lost in an outstanding book.

This story spans three generations. A concubine, her daughter who was sold to work on a silk farm and then ultimately her ganddaughter who over came great odds and finally received the happiness both her mother and grandmother worked so hard for. The story truly shows the strength of each of these women in a time and culture who revered women as little more than property. It intertwines Chinese history and culture beautifully because the story not only relies on historical events but also intermingles Chinese superstition and magic but in a very believable sense. There isn't too much any of it to leave you feeling like you are reading a history book or a sci-fi novel. The feelings towards women in Chinese culture is not too off from the reality of the society back in the old days of Chinese culture. My mother is from Taiwan , not China but my grandmother and grandfather were and I have often heard stories from my mother about how her two brothers were favored above the girls in the family. My grandfather also had a mistress and my grandmother knew about it and it was accepted. So to me this stories portrayal of women isn't too much off the beaten path. Don't let this harsh reality become too much for you the story is about the strength of the women and the ending happiness. The book focuses on the the mother, Li-Xia an unwanted daughter of a spice farmer and her struggles to become a scholar as her mother, the concubine was known to be and over comes the destiny her father tries to set for her as a concubine with "lotus feet". The story then changes to Li-Xia's daughter Siu-Sing, who ultimately finds happiness. Siu-sing is raised as the last disciple of her "Si-Fu" (master) in the art of the Wu-Shu Crane, healing and as well as ancient wisdom she over comes not only her own enemies but the enemies of her father (and mother) in a feud which has lasted three generations long. I could not put this book down and finished in a matter of a few days even though it's a rather large book. The story keeps you engrossed and fascinated and I'm very grateful for the length of this story, any less and I would be left wanting for more.

Yik-Munn, like a vulture, swoops in to purchase Pai-ling, a fifteen year-old girl, whose once prosperous family has fallen upon hard times. As the fourth in line wife of this seventy-two year old man her life is dismal. Pai-Ling was an intelligent well-bred young lady who Yik-Munn was determined to "beat that foolishness out of her and change the insolent light in her eyes to one of gratitude and respect..." The hatred of women in this culture is sadly sobering and the ease with which even an infant, for the sad fate of being born a female, is easily killed and buried is despicable. But, every now and then superstition and the constant fear of demons and ghosts works to the saving advantage of a female. Pai-Ling's female baby is saved by the glowing eyes of a ghostly fox. And her life begins as dismally as her mother's ended. That this society would so easily and without conscience treat women as worse than animals to be bought, sold, treated as slaves and as animals is haunting. And that even the women in such a culture will quickly and easily turn on one another is appalling. Rather than supporting and fighting for one another, the wives are ready to hate and abuse each other with relish. The story is for all its sadness, beautifully told and impossible to put down. It is a story set in an exotic place but the lives of the women were bleak and without hope, that this took place a hundred years ago instead of a thousand, adds poignancy. The book is so well written that at almost five hundred pages, time flies and you have reached the end. The book includes some thought provoking questions at the back to make it an easy book club choice.

The Concubine's Daughter is part history, part romance, part drama, part legend, part martial arts, part tragedy, and part poem. Pai Kit Fai leans on his background as martial artist and traditional Chinese medicine to craft the story of Li-Xia ("The Beautiful One") and her daughter Siu-Sing ("Little Star"). Li-Xia is born the daughter of a concubine on a spice farm in early 1906. An unwanted child, her father tried to rid himself of her but was thwarted twice by a fox fairy. In the attempt, her mother tragically dies. And so Li-Xia grows, is sold off the farm to a silk farmer, and learns to gather silk cocoons, spin silk thread and makes friends. All the while, she years to be a scholar, as her mother saw herself a scholar. She treasures her mother's diary, filled with poems and "pieces of gold." Li-Xia eventually finds her path to gold, and bears a daughter. At the birth of her daughter, they are parted. Siu-Sing is raised far from the place where her mother found her peace and stillness. She is raised in the art of The White Crane by a learned sifu and faces a deadly nemesis her entire journey. Along the way, she has to fight her way out of being sold into slavery, being sold into an opium den and surviving with her bare wits. She has to face her mortal enemy, her past, and find love. What I enjoyed most about this novel was the attention to detail. Bowls of seasoned congee for breakfast. Learning about the sung-tip contracts for girls. The corruption of Shanghai and Kowloon and Macau power triads. The gentle play of history over the forward motion of the story. The social classes and disdain for interracial marraige. The gritty feel of absolute slavery. The lavishness of riches and power. If you enjoyed "Memoirs of a Geisha" or "Shanghai Girls" or "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan," you will doubtless dive headfirst into this novel too. Enjoy it, as I did!