Bitter Melon: Inside America's Last Rural Chinese Town

At the turn of the century, the Sacramento Delta was home to thousands of Chinese immigrants. By day, laborers engaged in the back-breaking work of building the levees and harvesting crops. After work, many of them returned to the bustling, safe town of Locke. Locke, with its single-family homes, stores, saloons, restaurants, boarding houses, school, five gambling dens, and two brothels was the only village in the United States built and inhabited exclusively by Chinese.

Bitter Melon: Inside America's Last Rural Chinese Town is a collection of moving oral histories and stunning historical photographs (all printed in duotone), offers an unforgettable glimpse into this unique and vibrant community, and in doing so contributes significantly to our understanding of immigrant experience in California.

Jeff Gillenkirk is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in numerous journals and newspapers. He is the author of the novel "Home, Away," and the political thriller "Pursuit of Darkness." He is currently writing a play based on the life of Connie King, the unofficial Mayor of Locke, for production during the town's 100th anniversary year in 2015.

James Motlow is a freelance photographer; his photographs have been published in many magazines and journals and have been exhibited in both individual and group shows.  He has moved back to the town of Locke where he is part of an artist's cooperative housed in the "Moon Café" on Main Street. Come and visit!

Sucheng Chan (introduction) is a professor of history at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is the author of This Bittersweet Soil: The Chinese in California Agriculture, 1860-1910 and Asians in California History.