The Concubine's Children [Paperback]

Denise Chong (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1996

Chong tells the story of her grandmother, brought from China as a young concubine by a sojourner to the New World, of the man's wife and children left behind, and of the author's incredible discovery of those children six decades later. "Beautiful, haunting, and wise."--New York Times Book Review. Photos.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This superbly told saga of family loyalties and disaffections reads more like a novel than an actual chronicle of Chan Sam, a Chinese peasant who left his family in 1913 to seek his fortune in the "Gold Mountain" of western Canada. There, though always planning to return to them, he set up a second family with the beautiful, headstrong concubine he brought with him from China. The story is narrated in the third person by his granddaughter, a Canadian economist, who creates an unsentimental portrait of both families: of Huangbo, the patient "home-wife" who raised their son and the two children the concubine, May-ying, left behind, and survived the Japanese occupation of China and the rule of Mao Tse-tung; of May-ying, whose earnings as a waitress in west coast teahouses often supported the struggling Chan Sam, his family in China and her own two Canadian-born children. And we learn of the fate of all the children, especially May-ying's daughter Hing, the author's mother. Although Chan Sam never fulfilled his dream of returning to his home-family, after his death, Hing and the author made the pilgrimage to China to embrace the relatives they had never known. Photos.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Formerly a senior economist for Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Chong also is a writer of essays and articles. The subject of his first book is a true-life family history, beginning in about 1920 and ending in 1980. Its main character is Chong's maternal grandmother, May-ying, described as an unusually beautiful woman who came to Vancouver, Canada, to serve as a concubine. While May-ying's life was determined for her (i.e., to make money to send back to her "husband's" family in China), in the process she became an alcoholic, a gambler, and a prostitute. Her vices had a tremendously negative affect on her relationship with her husband, who eventually divorced her, and her daughter, Chong's mother, who grew up in rooming houses with no one to care for her. Told in a compassionate and forthright manner, this book makes sense out of the lives of many Chinese who came to the West to search for gold. In this respect, it is even better in form and content than the fictionalized works of Amy Tan. Recommended for all collections.
Peggy Spitzer Christoff, Oak Park, Ill.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (January 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140254277
• ISBN-13: 978-0140254273
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #199,594 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #31 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Regional Canada
  • #44 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > Canadian
  • #55 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Ethnic & National > Chinese

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Page turner..., August 3, 2001

By 

Chynared21 (Staten Island, New York USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Concubine's Children (Paperback)

but I did find that I had a bit of a difficult time getting myself through this book, maybe because this story with the exception of a concubine, hits close to home. My Grandfather had come to America without his wife and three children looking for a better life. This occured in the 1930's around the same time that Sam Chan sent for a concubine from China. May-Ying was a young girl sent alone on a long journey to Vancouver, B.C. to become a concubine to Sam Chan, who would father two daughters. As the girls got older it was decided that they would be schooled in China. The entire family returned home where May-Ying, although the mother to the girls, became the second wife next to Hungbo, who was to be known as the "big mother" to the girls. Hungbo had replaced Sam Chan's first wife who had passed away some years earlier.

May-Ying had started out as a young innocent girl who came to North America on falsified papers and was thrust into a life that she didn't desire. It was in Vancouver and the numerous Chinatowns that dotted the area that her wild side let loose, especially when Sam Chan returned for an extended stay in China to build a house. Now May-Ying was forced to work in a tea house to support not only herself, but also her infant daughter (the author's mother) as well as those in China. She was required to send back money to support the building of the house.

The rest of the book goes on to describe the hardships that she faced as well as the emotional and physical abuse suffered by the third daughter Hing. Sam Chan did indeed have very good intentions to try to provide well for the families on two continents, but it would all back fire during The Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution that would take place. This is when Sam Chan would return to Vancouver and start living apart from May-Ying and Hing.

The last few chapters deal with the author trying to reunite the two families and helping her mother come to terms with the demons that were inside her. Her mother felt that the happiness that she should have had was sacrificed for the other family in China. After meeting her siblings for the first time, she was able to answer a lot of questions that for a long time she had suppressed.

An interesting look into what life was like for those looking for the pot of gold in another country and the sadness that was shared among the many who made the trip.

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A compelling look at the pressures on Overseas Chinese, September 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Concubine's Children (Paperback)

The strength of this book is in the human drama of a family split apart. On another level, it is one of the clearest and most compelling descriptions I have ever encountered of the conflicting ties Overseas Chinese have between their adopted homelands and their ancestral homeland; the conflicting forces of family sentiment and the need to earn money to support the family; and the disparate economic opportunities at home and abroad. Like other economic sojourners who travel abroad to work, the author's grandfather faces tremendous pressures from those back home who expect him to give them the world on what are really very low wages; and he risks loss of face if he does not meet their expectations. The author paints her family members not as saints nor sinners but as real people and does an amazing, touching, fascinating job of bringing to life the story of a family pulled apart over the span of three generations.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A part of Chinese immigration uncovered, February 27, 2001

By 

dikybabe "admeyer" (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Concubine's Children (Paperback)

Denise Chong reveals a world of immigration that this very Anglo Texan had no idea existed. With each multicultural title I read I become more and more amazed by the sacrifices that immigrant people make by seeking their fortunes in a New World. Learning about the U. S. closure to Chinese immigration was news to me. And realizing that the only course for Chinese men was to immigrate through Canada opened up at least two new vistas. The one in Canada of Chong's grandmother, the child of the concubine, was so primitive and pain filled; I was intrigued to know that it could be survived. To learn of the custom of the Chinese man having family in China that was honored and in the New World that was less highly regarded surprised me even more. The child's struggle through rejection, poverty, parental alcoholism and addictive gambling, and sexual promiscuity seemed nearly impossible.

To enrich Chong's narrative, a biography no less, she includes family pictures. And the links back to the family in China show the culture that is stuck in another century, another time. It is a picture that reveals family that is revered though separated by distance and time. Reading this book enriched my understanding of a people about which I knew very little. I highly recommend this book. It is an extension past the very excellent fiction of Amy Tan and well worth the read.