An evocative, multi-generational tale of a family haunted by the death of a young concubine. For fans of Dinah Jefferies and Amy Tan. In 1930s Malaya a sixteen-year-old girl, dreaming of marriage to her sweetheart, is sold as a concubine to a rich old man desperate for an heir. Trapped, and bullied by his spiteful wife, Yu Lan plans to escape with her baby son, despite knowing that they will pursue her to the ends of the earth. Four generations later, her great-grandson, Nick, will return to Malaysia, looking for the truth behind the facade of a house cursed by the unhappy past. Nothing can prepare him for what he will find. This exquisitely rich novel brings to life a vanished world – a world of abandoned ghost houses, inquisitive monkeys, smoky temples and a panoply of gods and demons. A world where a poor girl can be sold to fulfil a rich man's dream. But though he can buy her body, he can never capture her soul, nor quench her spirit. WHAT READERS ARE SAYING: 'Compelling, atmospheric and emotional' 'Well-written, compelling ... A tale of duty, treachery, misery and superstition' 'Wonderfully drawn characters, searing emotion, powerful intensity and nail-biting drama'.

"Carefully balancing cool observation and compassion, Chong writes extraordinary history and gives voice to the Chinese immigrant experience."--ALA Booklist.

The Concubine's Children is the story of a family cleaved in two for the sake of a father's dream. In 1913, Chan Sam left an "at home" wife in China to earn a living in "Gold Mountain." Eleven years later, May-ying, the wilful, seventeen-year-old concubine he bought, sight unseen, travels to join him where she labors in tea houses of west coast Chinatowns to support the family in Canada, and the one in China. It was the concubine's third daughter, the author's mother, who unlocked the past for her daughter whose curiosity about some old photographs ultimately reunited a family divided for most of the last century. Heartfelt and beautifully written, The Concubine's Children is an inspiring story of the sacrifice that tore a family apart and the love that bound them back together.

"Finalist for the 1994 Governor General's Award" "The Concubine's Children" is the story of a family cleaved in two for the sake of a father's dream. There's Chan Sam, who left an "at home" wife in China to earn a living in "Gold Mountain"--North America. There's May-ying, the wilful, seventeen-year-old concubine he bought, sight unseen, who labored in tea houses of west coast Chinatowns to support the family he would have in Canada, and the one he had in China. It was the concubine's third daughter, the author's mother, who unlocked the past for her daughter, whose curiosity about some old photographs ultimately reunited a family divided for most of the last century.

"Report of the Dominion fishery commission on the fisheries of the province of Ontario, 1893", issued as vol. 26, no. 7, supplement.

Includes list of members.