France, 1918. In the final days of the First World War, a young Chinese woman, Pauline Deng, runs away from her uncle’s home in Paris to evade a marriage being arranged for her in Shanghai. To prevent the union, she needs the help of her cousin Theo, who is working as a translator for the Chinese Labour Corps in the French countryside. In the town of Noyelles-sur-Mer, Camille Roussel is planning her escape from an abusive marriage, and to end a love affair that can no longer continue. When Camille offers Pauline a room for her stay, the two women become friends. But it’s not long before Pauline uncovers a perilous secret that Camille has been hiding from her. As their dangerous situation escalates, the two women are forced to make a terrible decision that will bind them together for the rest of their lives.
Set against the little-known history of the 140,000 Chinese workers brought to Europe as non-combatant labor during WWI, The Porcelain Moon is a tale of forbidden love, identity and belonging, and what we are willing to risk for freedom.
Before reading this book I knew nothing about the Chinese laborers who came to France during WW1. I learned alot about this little known part of history and am glad that the author highlighted it. I was hoping to read more about the porcelain industry but it was merely the backdrop to the lives of the characters.
The chapters alternated between Pauline and Camille's story and toward the end of the book these stories merged into a pleasing ending. Both Pauline and Camille were interesting characters but I was more attracted to Pauline's story. She came to Paris as the illegitimate niece of the Pagoda owner Louis Deng and was able to build the life that she wanted there. She had many more challenges to overcome than Camille so she was my favorite character. There was always the possibility that she could be sent back to China as the bride of someone who she did not know and that's pretty scary. Pauline always knew that if a marriage was arranged for her that she would go along with it to maintain her family's pride. This is heroic.
The Porcelain Moon is a must read for historical fiction fans. It was just published last week and you need to get a copy of it. 5 out of 5 stars.
This sounds so good! I don't know anything about Chinese people in Paris at that time either so I would be interested to learn. I did recently read Mr Ma And Son by Lao She, a novel of a Chinese father and son in 1920s London, so I wonder how similar their experiences might be.
ReplyDeleteThis does sound fascinating.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your review with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.