Mrs. Spring Fragrance and other writings

Author

Sui Sin Far

Call Number

• FICTION SUIS (CEN)

Edition

Modern Library trade paperback edition.

Publication Information

New York : Modern Library, 2021.

Physical Description

xi, 169 pages ; 21 cm

Summary

A rediscovered classic of linked short stories set in San Francisco's Chinatown, portraying Chinese Americans as they fall in love, encounter racism, and wrestle with their new, hyphenated identities - a century before writers like Maxine Hong Kingston and Amy Tan. Set in early twentieth-century Chinatown, 'Mrs. Spring Fragrance and Other Writings' is the story of Chinese men and women living in the United States as they wrestle with prejudice and forced detention ; choose to become wholly Americanized or stay true to their cultural heritage ; meet both kind and predatory Americans ; and find love, purpose, and understanding within their families. By turns ironic and heart-rending, these stories are windows into the lives of everyday people in an unforgiving, often racist city who find solidarity and hope in the most unexpected places.

Contents

• Introduction / Mrs. Spring fragrance
• The inferior woman
• The wisdom of the new
• "Its wavering image"
• The gift of little me
• The story of one White woman who married a Chinese
• Her Chinese husband
• The Americanizing of Pau Tsu
• In the land of the free
• The Chinese lily
• The smuggling of Tie Co
• The god of restoration
• The three souls of Ah So Nan
• The prize China baby
• Lin John
• Tian Shan's kindred spirit
• The sing song woman
• Leaves from the mental portfolio of an Eurasian.