I've always been fascinated with China but don't like reading history books. This book kept my interest throughout its many pages. Rulan, the heroine, was a wonderful character with many fascets. Highly recommended.

Having lived in both Hawaii & the Sacramento area, I enjoyed the local history through the experiences of a Chinese immigrant family struggling to build a better life in the Western states. Will view the levees around Sacramento with new eyes!

This is a fine novel, in my opinion. The title is bland and can give one the impression that they are about to read an annotated atlas or something. Regardless, after reading the first dozen pages or so you will get a real feel for this book. As the published reviewer notes, it adheres to historical accounts exceptionally well. This novel could be read by both older adolescents with good command of language and adults. Its use of local color (California, Hawaii) is also exceptional and while some stock characterization is done, overall the effort is quite literary. I found it to be solid historical fiction of a sort. So ignore the knee-jerk PC reviewer who couldn't get past the cover (by the way, just where is that Yalie she's talking about?) and give it a try. If the plot doesn't hold you, you are likely to become better informed on Hawaii's colonial period.

very goo