Concubine's Children

by Denise Chong

Book Overview

"Carefully balancing cool observation and compassion, Chong writes extraordinary history and gives voice to the Chinese immigrant experience."--ALA Booklist . This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0670829617
• ISBN13: 9780670829613
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Viking Books
• Length: 266 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A Captivating Read

I may be a white, teenaged, american male, but I still can appreciate the value and hard work that went into this book.This book was absolutely wonderful in that it covered the family history so well, leaving out very few details, even though it was all put together by word of mouth, letters and photographs!This must have been an extremely difficult book to write for all parties involved, and for that the author and her relatives have my deepest respect. This book is absolutely beautiful and represents Chinese culture very clearly and in an interesting manner. I would recommend this book to ANYBODY

It's so good it almost made me cry

I'm surprised that this book has been given so little publicity compared to Amy Tan's, Jung Chang's Wild Swans etc. Like the other reviewers, I have found this book to be a gem. Even better that Amy Tan's books or Wild Swans for that matter because this book has been written from the heart. Denise Chong has not held back in telling the stories of 3 generations in her family, the characters - warts and all. And that she has written this book from bits of letters, photographs and talking to her mother is truly an amazing feat. Reading it, was heart wrenching at times, it had its ups and downs and what an ending to the tale. Because I am a man, I cannot truly and fully appreciate this book more than a woman would. I strongly recommend this to any of your female readers.

The most compelling book I read in '96

The Concubine's Children is the story, of a woman from China who came to Britsh Columbia, Canada to be the concubine, (not wife) of a rather unimaginative, and very traditional man. Her story, which really isn't a happy story, gives the reader an unusual insight into the imigrant experience of Asian Americans, and is written by the granddaughter of the "Concubine" . This book was so good, I read it in one night. I then sent it to my mother who did the same