This historical novel is set mostly in Portland, Oregon, during the 1880s era and following a half Chinese girl who fell in love with her employer’s white son. While the son is studying abroad to become a doctor the employers find out Celia is pregnant and refuse to acknowledge the baby is his. Celia is sent away to work for someone else. The author has done an excellent job of depicting the life of a Chinese woman during this time period. At first I wasn’t sure about this story but it didn’t take long to get drawn in to the life of this woman facing oppression and prejudice and doing her best to raise her daughter under less than ideal circumstances. There are many twists and turns in this story that kept me reading. If you’re interested in US historical history you should read this book. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

After a slow start this book really leans into the adventure/mystery of the protagonist, Celia. I was pleasantly surprised by a few of the plot twists and points, as this book could have taken the easy route with some expected outcomes and didn't. Especially with how characters get out of difficult circumstances. There aren't heroes emerging at the last minute, but rather small choices and moments of luck that lead to new chances.

The beginning of the book alternates between the current and future experiences Cecilia is facing until the two timelines converge in the present. The structure is well done and kept it interesting. Characters were well formed and I was definitely invested in their futures!

Thank you to Net Galley and Sourcebooks Publishing for an early copy of The Girls of Good Fortune by Kristina McMorris

The 19th century was a cruel and unrelenting odyssey for the Chinese living in America. Many who came to find work found themselves in the mines of the western United States. It is here that author Kristina McMorris sets the action for what is a harrowing yet ultimately righteous narrative involving both the good and the evil of the times.

Celia is the daughter of a Chinese miner and Caucasian mother living in Portland, Oregon. Her father's life is taken at what will become known as the Snake River Massacre (Wyoming) resulting in the deaths of between thirty-one and thirty-four Chinese gold dust miners. Celia's life runs on a dangerous track when as a housekeeper for a wealthy family she becomes involved with heir Stephen Bettencourt. He is off to Europe to study medicine but professes his love to Celia before departing with a promise to return to her. Celia's subsequent pregnancy will set her on a relentless trek to provide for her child and to see justice served in the case of the dead miners. When she takes over running the kitchen in a brothel, she encounters women hardened by life but quick in compassion for others.

McMorris has included a number of historical realities of the times including women unfairly placed in asylums, the dangers in hopping freight trains and the "bulls" hired to prevent such action and the use of Shanghai Tunnels to capture and force individuals onto ships as crew.

While some of the decisions Celia makes are questionable in light of her child's well being and safety (one example being the times she has disguised herself as a man, yet when jumping aboard a moving train she is wearing a long skirt that threatens her success), The Girls of Good Fortune delivers a critical examination in righting wrongs and believing in oneself.

The Girls of Good Fortune follows Celia, a young, biracial woman who is orphaned after her Chinese father is killed as part of a massacre of Chinese gold dust miners in what is now known as Hell's Canyon. When it happens she is serving in the household of the mayor of Portland, Oregon and in the middle of a secret relationship with the mayor's son. Things unravel quickly for Celia after Stephen leaves for medical school in England. She's pregnant with his child and kicked out of the house, left to work as a cleaner in a brothel. Despite circumstances that are less than ideal, she becomes friends with one of the women working in the brothel, as well as the Chinese madam that runs it. But her desire to find justice for the men that were killed puts her on a collision course with the mayor and his cronies, putting her in a situation that makes the beginning of her time at the brothel look like a cakewalk. There she must rely on help from a stranger with unknown intentions to get back home to her daughter.

This is not the first book I've read about the discrimination that Chinese people faced in America in the waning decades of the nineteenth century, but it certainly serves as a reminder that history constantly repeats itself. Then it was the Chinese that weren't wanted and treated cruelly, and today we still as a country proclaim we don't want immigrants, not if they're not the right kind, from the right place. Celia goes through quite a few hardships in this book, and for me it got to the point where it bordered on too much that took away from the main point of the book, but it was still a less agonizing read than some of the other books that I've read on this subject matter. Celia is a tenacious and mostly admirable protagonist, though there was the part of me that couldn't help but think she was beyond naive to get into an intimate relationship (apparently without any kind of protection!) with the son of her employer. Being starry-eyed and dreaming of a happily-ever-after with someone from a different class in that time would be dangerous enough as it is.

Readers looking for historical fiction that isn't often written about will enjoy this fast-moving story. A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Another great HF story from this author. One of the reasons I read HF is to learn new things and this book taught me about the late 1800s Portland, the anti-Chinese sentiments, the term "Shanghaied," and the tunnels created under the city. Celia was a half-Chinese woman, passing as white, who worked as a maid for the mayor. When they found her with child, their grandchild, they sent her to work as a housekeeper at a nearby brothel. She made the best of a horrible situation. The kindness of the woman who ran the brothel and one of the workers who helped take care of Celia's , Pearl, baby was heartwarming. What happened to Celia next was not. She ended up getting captured in a raid and put on a ship back to China for slave labor. However, she never gave up hope and continued to find ways to get back home to her child regardless of what she had to endure.
I was invested in the characters and their fates. Marie, woman who ran the brothel, became a character who I had to read about and found her to have a tough exterior but a heart of gold. Celia's strength of character and love of family was remarkable. Family evolved from her biological family to the people in your life that become your family, like Marie and Lettie. Frank was a character to love and hate at the same time but as you learned more about him, the reasons he made his choices became more clear. I loved the descriptions of settings, sights and smells. Just when you thought you knew what a character would do, they could surprise you with their actions. I enjoyed those unexpected occurrences. The author's research was thorough and detailed and the author notes give more background to the story.
If you are looking for a book to get invested in and capture your attention, I highly recommend this book!
#TheGirlsofGoodFortune #historicalfiction
Thank you Net Galley for a complimentary copy. All opinions expresses are my own.

The Girls of Good Fortune by Kristina McMorris is an eye-opening historical fiction about a young woman who lives in Portland Oregon in 1888. Most do not know about the debauchery and prejudice that took place during this time period.
Celia is half Caucasian on her mother’s side and Chinese on her fathers, although she favors her mother’s looks She works as a housekeeper for the crooked mayor and falls in love with their son who she can never marry because of who she is. Due to multiple unfortunate circumstances including an unplanned pregnancy she was forced out of the mayor’s home and is forced to work as a cleaning lady in a “house of ill repute.” So many incidents happen while there, but the worst one is when she is "shanghaied" to be a laborer on a ship.
I really enjoyed this novel as I learned about a time in our history that many are not aware of. I loved this story and the awareness it brought me. I highly recommend this novel. Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and Netgalley for this enlightening ARC.

More people should read historical fiction! You can "enjoy" what you are reading and actually learn something about what went on in our country in the past. It is very possible that it is something that you didn't know. The author didn't know this history before she wrote this book and I didn't know it before I read it! What a great book about our west coast and what happened there in the late 1800's. Thank you for sharing this bit of history with all of us!

I received a complimentary copy of The Girls of Good Fortune by Kristina McMorris from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Set in 1888 Portland, the story follows Celia as she discovers she has been kidnapped. It’s a heavy read, but a compelling one.

_The Girls of Good Fortune_ by Kristina McMorris is a fast-paced and emotionally intense historical fiction read that takes place mostly in the 1800s on the West Coast. During a period of anti-Chinese sentiment in America, Celia is keeping her heritage a secret while working for a well-to-do family in Portland when she is forced to leave her position. As she struggles with tragedy and the news of brutal murders of Chinese workers, her experiences lead her to search for justice. Well-developed characters keep the reader enthralled to the end.

The Girls of Good Fortune
Celia was the daughter of a Chinese man and a white woman. She lived in Oregon in the late 1800s. Her mother had died and her father worked with other Chines laborers in the gold fields. Chinese laborers had been brought to American to build the railroads. However when the railroad work was done, they faced discrimination from local people.
Celia worked in the home of the mayor of Portland and fell in love with his son, Stephen. The couple planned to marry after his medical studies ended.
Stephen left for school in Europe and Celia soon found herself pregnant with his child. She was sent to work in a brothel where she eventually gave birth to a daughter.
There had been a massacre of Chinese workers and her and she discovered that her father was among the dead. Celia then set about finding the killers. She left her daughter in the care of the Madam in the brothel and sought justice for her father and the other murdered men.
While disguised as a man, she was drugged and Shanghaied onto a boat headed for San Francisco.
The rest of the story described how she and Owen, a man hired to lure her away, were able to free themselves.
I had a hard time with this book as Celia is not a likable character. She makes several questionable choices like leaving her young child in the care of others while she was off seeking justice. The ending is also far fetched.
I received this ARC from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review..

The girls of Good Fortune brings to light horrifying events against Chinese immigrants that were unfortunately forgotten.

Kristina McMorri's depiction of the struggles and racism the Chinese immigrants faced is well done. It was the most compelling part of the story.

Celia, the protagonist, is a chinese woman who's passing white. Through a series of misfortune she ends up being kidnapped and "Shanghaied" to serve in a ship.

I enjoyed the first 50% of this book, but when Celia started making a dumb decision after the other, I was ready to give up. I feel this book lost the plot in the middle and it just kept getting worse for me.

I feel the synopsis of the book should be revised because it's a little misleading.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When reading historical fiction I’m always amazed at the research that goes into providing information about the history behind the story. I was not aware of the massacre of Chinese people in Oregon in the late 1880s, the meaning of being “shanghaied” or the underground world of the Shanghai Tunnels. Without giving away the story this book explores a lot of different aspects of history including hidden identities, prejudices, prostitution, power dynamics and socioeconomic disparity.
While I enjoy reading a variety of genres, my favorite genre is historical fiction and this book did not disappoint. This ARC was provided by Sourcebooks Landmark via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I’m

I received a free copy of, The Girls of Good Fortune, by Kristina McMorris, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. In 1888 in Portland, Celia finds she has been kidnapped. This was a heavy read. but a good read.

This book pulls you right in! The historical details are super vivid, and Celia is a character you really root for. Some twists were a bit predictable, but overall, an engaging book. It’s got suspense, drama, and a fascinating look at identity and survival. Some parts felt a little familiar, but the rich historical detail and strong heroine kept me hooked. If you love historical fiction with a bit of mystery, this one’s worth picking up!

McMorris is perhaps most famous for "Sold on a Monday" and other works of historical fiction, and "The Girls of Good Fortune" taps into another forgotten chapter of America’s past—the expulsion of and violence against Chinese Americans in Portland in the late 1880s. Compelling, vital history, told through the lens of a young woman of mixed heritage … this book will reward a thoughtful reader.

Firstly, the cover on this is absolutely beautiful and I am absolutely obsessed with it !

The story was a whole vibe from start to finish and I loved it! I love a fantasy book and this was it !

I would recommend this book to everyone and anyone who loves to read !!

An excellent read for any and all readers! Author comes at you with both barrels and knocks you out of your shoes! Great job fleshing out all the characters. I give this book FIVE stars! Definitely recommend!

This book was quite boring. While the premise seemed interesting, I just couldn’t get into it unfortunately. I’ve heard it is a meh book and really don’t think I need to use my time to dive into another mediocre read.

This was a very good book. Historical fiction fans, will love it. A half Chinese women, working for the governor, falling in love with the son, and having his baby, while her father writes a letter to his daughter and tells her, he has found a good match for his daughter. Then the daughter finds out her father was murdered, by white men, who hate the Chinese. I only wish that more of that part of the story was developed. I can see this book, being made into a movie.

Thank you NetGalley and Kristina McMorris for this electronic ARC of The Girls of Good Fortune.. Oregon in 1888 is not a welcoming place for the Chinese. Celia is half Chinese but able to pass as non Chinese. She finds work as a servant in the Mayor’s home. Her world is shattered when she becomes pregnant and the mayor sends her to clean in a brothel. With a child and an uncertain future, she is shanghaied while dressed as a man. This book had a lot going on and is very informative about the treatment of the Chinese and the difficult life in that time period..