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The Paper Daughters of Chinatown

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"The Paper Daughters of Chinatown" by Heather B. Moore is a historical novel that, while well-intentioned in shedding light on an important period in history, falls short in execution. Set in San Francisco's Chinatown during the late 19th century, the novel follows the lives of Mei Lien and Ming, two young Chinese women who immigrate to America under false identities, known as "paper daughters," in search of a better life.

One of the main weaknesses of the novel lies in its characterization. Mei Lien and Ming, as well as the other characters, feel underdeveloped and lack depth. Their motivations and emotions are often simplistic and stereotypical, which makes it difficult for readers to fully connect with them. Additionally, the dialogue can come across as stilted and unnatural, further hindering the reader's immersion into the story.

Furthermore, the pacing of the novel is uneven, with long stretches of exposition and introspection that slow down the narrative momentum. While the historical background is well-researched and informative, it often feels like it takes precedence over the plot and character development, leaving the story feeling disjointed and unfocused.

Another issue with the novel is its portrayal of cultural and historical elements. While Moore attempts to address the discrimination and prejudice faced by Chinese immigrants during this time period, the portrayal can feel superficial and lacking in nuance. The novel also falls into the trap of presenting a white savior narrative, with the white characters often playing a prominent role in the resolution of the characters' conflicts.

Overall, "The Paper Daughters of Chinatown" is a well-intentioned but ultimately disappointing novel that fails to fully engage its readers. While it sheds light on an important period in history, its weak characterization, uneven pacing, and superficial portrayal of cultural elements detract from its impact.

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San Francisco, 1903; In the harbour of San Francisco, many ships from China arrive daily. Some of the ships secretly transport young women and girls from China, who are lured by criminal tongs (Chinese gangs) with false promises (rich husbands weddings and work) false papers, and false new names to America. Some girls are even sold to tongs to pay off (gambling) debts of their parents, and once in America, they have to pay off the price the tong paid their parents, and the girls land in brothels, as slaves, and are treated badly and inhumane by their owners.

The Occidental Mission Home for Girls is a beacon of hope and light for these girls and women. The young Donaldina Cameron lands a job at this home to rescue girls from desperate situations and from many cruel owners. In the mission home, the girls are safe, and get an education. But Donaldina's work is not without danger; the local Tongs hate her for her work, and her rescue actions always are assisted by the police. Told in alternating chapters, we read from the point of view of Donaldina and Mei Lien. a a “paper daughter” who thinks she is coming to America for an arranged marriage but instead is sold into a life of shame and despair.

This book is based on true history; The Occidental Mission Home for Girls and Donaldina Cameron really existed, and this organisation is still going on in San Francisco under her name. The storyline of the book is absolutely magnificient! It is a true historical page turner, on every page something is happening that makes you curious for the next page. The author truly created believable and real character that you start to care for more and more during the story as a reader. What the Chinese girls had to endure before they where rescued whas heartbreaking. What is most heartwarming is that many Chinese girls found safety and a future in the Mission Home, altough lies where spread about the home within the Chinese community, but during the book, the mission gets the trust of the community, which was really good to read. I think this book would also be great as a movie, because the way it was written, you could picture everything in your head.

Overall, for fans of historical fiction this is a book not to miss. I truly recommend it!!

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Beautiful, amazing story. It it one that will stay with me a long time. It's a hard subject to tackle and I feel the author handled it well. I can tell there was painstaking research involved that brought this wonderful story to live.

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I’m my quest to catch up on my NetGalley reading, I decided to start in chronological order starting with the oldest publication date. The Paper Daughters of Chinatown by Heather B Moore seemed to be next in line. My late mother loved reading anything to do with Asia or Asian people. She would have devoured this book way faster than me!

The “paper daughters” are the Chinese girls who left their families, with the promise of a rich husband in America. Most often there was no wealthy man waiting for her on the other side of the ocean. Sometimes the young girls were abducted from their homes in China. Basically, their “ownership” is on paper, therefore “paper daughters.”

Most often, these girls would arrive in America, particularly in San Francisco, and treated as slaves. They were trafficked, abused, and starved. These gurls were told if they didn’t obey their masters, their family in China would pay and their ancestors would come after their souls.

There was a Scottish woman Chinatown knew as the “white devil” who went with an interpreter and often a few officers to rescue girls who wanted to escape the abuse. Sometimes the girls would thrive under Dolly’s care while other times the girls might willingly return to their slave owner. All the girls in Dolly’s care would be well fed, learned skills like cooking and sewing, and many were there to help the others heal from their trauma.

At first, learning all this dark history of Chinatown squeezed the life out of my heart. So many girls were wrongfully treated and the American government turned their heads from what was really happening to these young girls. As part Chinese myself, this is history that isn’t surprising, but it has been hidden from most.

If it wasn’t for this book, I would never have known how horrific life was for so many Chinese girls. As much as I wanted to tuck this book away and avoid the heartbreak of the sufferings these young girls went through, I am very glad Heather B Moore write this book. Thank you NetGalley and Shadow Mountain for making The Paper Daughters of Chinatown available. I give this work 5 out of 5 tiaras!

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I would give this book 4.5 stars. This is the story of Donaldina Cameron "Dolly", who rescued thousands of Chinese girls from forced prostitution and indentured servitude. She arrived in San Francisco in the late 1800s to teach sewing but quickly realized there was more in store for her as she was invited to join the rescue efforts to free female Chinese servants and give them a safe place to live. Once rescued, these girls were educated in English, housekeeping skills, and Christianity, among other things. Dolly was a very unselfish person who always put the mission at the Presbyterian Home ahead of her own self interests.
I enjoyed the side story of Mei Lien and her journey to America under false pretense that she was to be married to a rich man. It helped to see the perspective of the slave trade from a first person account. Plus the story entwined with hers of forgiveness was beautiful.
This story was heartwarming, suspenseful and at times tragic, with a little romance included. All great aspects of a good story.
I found Dolly Cameron's story inspiring. I know human trafficking is still an issue in our society today and there are still men and women risking their lives to save those who are forced into slavery. Being aware of the problem is the first step to alleviating the issue.

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Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2021
Another amazing book by an amazing author. I know I am always going to learn something new about our history when I read her historical fiction books. This author takes a true story and blends it into an amazing and informative novel. I am looking forward to her next one!

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*received for free from netgalley for honest review* Very important historical fiction, reading books like this based in truth is always so great since it normally leads me to more books on the subject to read, 5 stars

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When was the last time you were deeply moved by a story? When did a story stay on your mind day and night? The Paper Daughters of Chinatown by Author Heather B. Moore is a story that will stay with you and change your thinking about many aspects that still plague society today.

Readers are introduced to Donaldina Cameron who accepts a job of teaching young Chinese girls how to sew who reside at
the Occidental Mission Home for Girls in 1895. Little does Donaldina, also known as Dolly, realize that this job will forever change her life. This novel based on the true story of Dolly's life showcases a sordid part of American History where young Chinese girls were given false papers to come to America under the guise of becoming wives or workers to rich Chinese men. Once in America, they were sold into slavery to become servants or prostitutes. The Chinese Criminal Tong ran the back streets of San Francisco in the 19th century in California. No one wanted to mess with them but it didn't stop Dolly or other women who worked with her.

The Occidental Mission Home for girls was founded in 1874 by the Presbyterian Church. The mission home's purpose was to offer refuge to the young Asian girls caught in the "yellow slave trade". Dolly became a light of freedom and a mother to many of these young girls. Through her tireless efforts and brave stand, she faced down the evil tong and rescued many girls in the middle of the night with the help of a few San Francisco police officers. This book is not a light or pleasant read at all times. Though there are no graphic details, readers do learn of the physical and substance abuse that took place. It's so heartbreaking to read of and feel the despair that these girls and women went through.

This book actually took me longer to read because of me being a history nerd and I love reading chapter notes. Once I read chapter notes then I go down another rabbit hole with something I read in the notes. Then eventually I'd get back to the story. Huge props to the author for the extensive research she did on this topic and on the life of Dolly.

I also loved the side story of the fictional character, Mei Lien, whose story showcases what happened to many of the girls who were lied to, brought to America, sold, and abused. I was so glad that this part of the story was told even if it was a fictional character.


The Paper Daughters of Chinatown is a story that must be read and talked about. The terrible tragedy of human trafficking is still happening today. This novel brings to light an issue that all people must be aware of and help and support those who are warriors today still fighting for those who can't help themselves. One line in the story really hit me that Officer Cook said to Dolly at the end of the novel and it's something we all should remember,

Officer Cook said, "We might live in the land of the free, but none of us are truly free as long as slavery exists in our society."

Author Heather B. Moore has written another compelling novel that I highly recommend to other readers. This story of courage and selflessness will touch you and illuminate the struggles still happening in our world today.

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The Paper Daughters of Chinatown is a great book! The story and characters draw you in. I really enjoyed reading this story. It is based on real events. Heather Moore did a great job writing it.

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I selected this read, based on the beautiful cover. What I got was a very interesting story and I loved everything about this book!! Read it, you won't be disappointed.

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This is a review I should have written ages ago, but it's been intimidating to find the words to encompass how I felt while reading the book. I'm filled with admiration for Donaldina Cameron and those she worked with. The impact of the book was even greater for me because she was a real person and this account is meticulously researched, while still reading as easily as a novel. The author explores beyond the heroism of Donaldina- we see the humanity and reality and struggles and flaws and choices. The evil she confronts and fights against is unimaginable, but was all too real in our history- and sadly continues to this day. Through the trials and difficulties of the home and the girls in it, the overarching feeling of hope brought light and reassurance that they were making a significant and priceless difference. It was so heartwarming to read and think about the influence Donaldina had on generations to follow. This book is perfect for fans of both historical fiction and real historical accounts, and would make a wonderful book club featured book. I can't recommend it highly enough. It stayed with me for weeks after finishing it!

(I received a complimentary copy of the book; all opinions in this review are my own)

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This book about human trafficking couldn''t be more timely. It was well researched, and written.
I especially enjoyed the quotes from the historical documents that were used to define this story.
Definitely a discussable book that will lead to more exploration of the topic.

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Based on the life of Missionary Donaldina Cameron, a courageous woman who devoted her life to rescuing Chinese girls and young women from human trafficking and prostitution.

Well researched and richly woven, this book came highly recommended to me, and I would have to agree that they were right. The story follows Donaldina during her first decade of working with the Occidental Mission Home for Girls, as well as a young woman, Mei Lien, who believes that she is coming to America for an arranged marriage, but instead finds herself in a horrific situation at the mercy of the tong.

A moving read, and a twisting plot, with moments of despair and bright spots of hope. I admired the courage of the girls, and Donaldina, who gave her life to the mission and loved each of the girls as her daughter. Tien is a courageous young woman, and I liked how she and Donaldina find a way to work together.

This book deals with very difficult realities, but in a way that is not explicit, but allows the reader an emotional grasp of what they are dealing with. After reading this book I can't believe that this was the first time I'd ever heard of Donaldina Cameron! A powerful read that tells the story of a real life heroine and her fight to give Chinese girls brought illegally into the US a safe place and hope for a better future. A story of courage, faith, friendship, love and redemption, definitely one I'd recommend!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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I did not get to read this because I accidentally deleted it. Sorry. If you want to give me a chance at the audio book I will be happy to give it a try. It sounded like a good novel.

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DNF at about 30%. I was not at all impressed by the audio narration of this book. But more importantly, this felt a little icky being written by a white woman. There was a small white savior complex going on, and the whole thing just didn't sit right with me.

I would have loved to see this as an own voices story from the POV of Mei Lien or for Dolly's role to have been done a little differently. While it's important for Dolly's story to be told, too, this book could have been packaged and marketed a bit differently so as not to be as insensitive.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

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This true story of the rescue of Chinese girls from the underground slave market in San Francisco. This eye opening story about the life of Donaldina Cameron follows her as she goes into the most dangerous and frightening places to rescue girls who have been sold. Then she fights to keep them safe while she teaches them the to read, write, sew and have faith in God. The book includes photos and quotes from some of the girls she rescued as well as a historical breakdown of each chapter separating fact from fiction. The mission she ran is still saving girls today.

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An absolutely beautiful book that will take you on a heart wrenching journey through the underbelly of Chinatown. It is a testament of the goodness and power of one. The story will resonate with me for the rest of my life and will remind me that love can truly conquer all. Not a fluffy happily ever after read, but thought provoking and soul searching. This author writes great stories, but historical is her forte.

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This book grabbed my attention from the very beginning. We all know about OUR and their daring rescue attempts of children in horrible situations. Can you turn that back 120 years and see a woman from 1895 doing the same thing? Donaldina Cameron risked her life to save children and young women from slavery and abuse long before our time. Her legacy continues to this day.
Read this book to see what her life was like from day to day, both helping teach sewing skills (what she was hired for) and for other, more hidden, activities. Read about the girls she saved. Read about what life might have been like for some of these women and children in Chinatown. Read about her personal experiences and challenges.

Dolly was a person I personally want to be like. She fought racism, abuse, and discrimination in her own sphere and with everything she had. This book is uplifting and positive, even with the awful things she dealt with every day. She brought HOPE.

Heather Moore's books are always true to the time period and this one is based on a true story. You can really get a feel for what life was like for both the heroine and those she worked with and rescued.

I highly recommend buying this book, reading it, and sharing it with those you love. There are discussion questions as well, great for book clubs and supplemental to history studies.

Clean, while there are many difficult parts to read and many instances of references to drugs and prostitution as well as other kinds of abuse, it is all appropriate for readers probably from ages young teen and up.

I was given a copy of this book but my opinions are my own.

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I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Another tear jerker! I loved this book though. It made you think a lot.

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

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I’ve been excited to get to read this book since I heard about it. Heather B Moore is one of my very favorite authors. She has such a way with words. And her historical fiction is fabulous.

This book touched me in a way that I haven’t been touched by a book in a long time. There were so many parallels with what happened to Donaldina, aka Dolly, Cameron in the early 1900’s to now. There was a plague that they had to quarantine from for a while, terrible things happened to good people, and there was an earthquake as well. But through it all, Dolly was a force for good.

I really loved Dolly. She was an actual person. She really did live in San Francisco and care for the Chinese young women who had been so hurt. Some of their stories are shared in this book. And they are heart-wrenching. It’s so hard to believe that someone can do these kinds of things to another person. But they did. And they actually still do in our times.

That’s one thing I want to take away from this one. I want to be one who is willing to stand up for what’s right. And help others who are in a hard situation if I can. Thanks to Heather B Moore for writing this book. I’m sure it wasn’t easy, but it’s so needed.

I was sent a copy of The Paper Daughters of Chinatown as a gift from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

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