Kae Ying Woo attempts to piece together the tangled and hidden history of the Wong family, starting from 1892 when Wong Gwei left China for British Columbia
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SKY Lee grew up in Port Albermi, BC. In the late 1960s, she was a founder of the Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop. Her debut novel, Disappearing Moon Cafe, was nominated for a Governor General's Literary Award and won the City of Vancouver Book Award. SKY Lee currently resides in Toronto.
A compelling first novel by the Canadian Lee that tries to do for Asian-Canadian women what Amy Tan and Maxine Hong-Kingston have done for their Asian-American counterparts: give mythical shape to the experiences of immigration, assimilation, and struggle for identity in the West. Kae Ying Woo narrates this tapestry-like story, which traces three generations of the Asian-Canadian Wong family. The book opens with a recollection of the settler experiences of Kelora Chen, a half-native/half-Chinese, and the Wong family patriarch, Wong Gwei Chang, who in 1892 left China to find his fortune in North America. Kelora's heroic act of saving Wong's life symbolizes almost too obviously the great strength and struggle of the women who follow in their family line. Their lives revolve around the Disappearing Moon Cafe, the largest restaurant in Vancouver's Chinatown, operated by the overbearing matriarch Lee Mui Lan. Within her domain are Fong Mei, Lee's abused daughter-in-law, who is tormented for not rendering children to Lee's son; Seto Chi, Malaysian born, sold out of her family at birth because of the superstition that girl babies are bad luck; Beatrice, Kae's own mother, who breaks Chinese tradition by marrying a man of whom her family disapproves. Lee's theme is that these women endured a double discrimination--on the one hand, from the ``white-devils'' of the West, who limited their immigration and restricted their work choices, and, on the other, from patriarchal Chinese customs. The obvious feminist message fortunately includes large doses of wit and humor. Lee successfully combines magic realism and epic sweep in the fast-moving story, which should inspire mainly fans of the increasingly popular literature of Asian-American writers. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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Seller: Hourglass Books, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good+. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good+. Canadian First. Complete number line from 1 to 5; just a bit of edge wear to boards and dust jacket; one crease on front flap; otherwise a solid, clean copy with no marking or underlining; collectible condition. Book. Seller Inventory # 007145
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Seller: Ken Jackson, Calgary, AB, Canada
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. First edition hardcover in dust jakcet. Finalist for the Governor General's Award and winner of the City of Vancouver Book Award. Short inscription on front endpaper. Very Good/Fine. Seller Inventory # 248043
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Seller: Purpora Books, Comox, BC, Canada
Hard Cover in Dust Jacket. Condition: Near Fine Plus. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. First Edition, First Printing. One tiny spot on fore edge of pages and a couple of even tinier ones on top edge. Canadian author's first novel, the saga of the Wong family, owners of a restaurant in Vancouver's Chinatown. Winner of City of Vancouver Book Award. 237 pages. Seller Inventory # 20981
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Seller: Purpora Books, Comox, BC, Canada
Hard Cover in Dust Jacket. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. First Edition, First Printing. Canadian author's first novel, the saga of the Wong family, owners of a restaurant in Vancouver's Chinatown. Winner of City of Vancouver Book Award. 237 pages. Seller Inventory # 20551
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Seller: Tony Power, Books, North Vancouver, BC, Canada
Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. First Edition. | Fine in fine dustjacket. Seller Inventory # 001813
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