Mrs. Spring Fragrance - and Other Writings

Informationen zum Autor Edith Maude Eaton  (1865–1914), who took the pen name  Sui Sin Far , was the first Asian American, man or woman, to publish fiction in the United States. The daughter of a Chinese mother and an English father, Eaton began publishing articles about Montreal’s Chinese Canadian community in English-language newspapers at twenty-five. At thirty-three she moved to the United States, and, asserting her identity as a Chinese American writer (despite her ability to “pass” as white), published stories about Chinese Americans at a time when the United States Congress banned Chinese immigration to the United States. Klappentext A rediscovered classic of linked short stories set in San Francisco's Chinatown, portraying Chinese Americans as they fall in love, encounter racism, and wrestle with their new, hyphenated identities-a century before writers like Maxine Hong Kingston and Amy Tan. Set in early twentieth-century Chinatown, Mrs. Spring Fragrance and Other Writings is the story of Chinese men and women living in the United States as they wrestle with prejudice and forced detention; choose to become wholly Americanized or stay true to their cultural heritage; meet both kind and predatory Americans; and find love, purpose, and understanding within their families. By turns ironic and heart-rending, these stories are windows into the lives of everyday people in an unforgiving, often racist city who find solidarity and hope in the most unexpected places. Leseprobe Mrs. Spring Fragrance I When Mrs. Spring Fragrance first arrived in Seattle, she was unacquainted with even one word of the American language. Five years later her husband, speaking of her, said: “There are no more American words for her learning.” And everyone who knew Mrs. Spring Fragrance agreed with Mr. Spring Fragrance. Mr. Spring Fragrance, whose business name was Sing Yook, was a young curio merchant. Though conservatively Chinese in many respects, he was at the same time what is called by the Westerners, “Americanized.” Mrs. Spring Fragrance was even more “Americanized.” Next door to the Spring Fragrances lived the Chin Yuens. Mrs. Chin Yuen was much older than Mrs. Spring Fragrance; but she had a daughter of eighteen with whom Mrs. Spring Fragrance was on terms of great friendship. The daughter was a pretty girl whose Chinese name was Mai Gwi Far (a rose) and whose American name was Laura. Nearly everybody called her Laura, even her parents and Chinese friends. Laura had a sweetheart, a youth named Kai Tzu. Kai Tzu, who was American-­born, and as ruddy and stalwart as any young Westerner, was noted, amongst baseball players, as one of the finest pitchers on the Coast. He could also sing, “Drink to me only with thine eyes,” to Laura’s piano accompaniment. Now the only person who knew that Kai Tzu loved Laura and that Laura loved Kai Tzu, was Mrs. Spring Fragrance. The reason for this was that, although the Chin Yuen parents lived in a house furnished in American style, and wore American clothes, yet they religiously observed many Chinese customs, and their ideals of life were the ideals of their Chinese forefathers. Therefore, they had betrothed their daughter, Laura, at the age of fifteen, to the eldest son of the Chinese Government schoolteacher in San Francisco. The time for the consummation of the betrothal was approaching. Laura was with Mrs. Spring Fragrance and Mrs. Spring Fragrance was trying to cheer her. “I had such a pretty walk today,” said she. “I crossed the banks above the beach and came back by the long road. In the green grass the daffodils were blowing, in the cottage gardens the currant bushes were flowering, and in the air was the perfume of the wallflower. I wished, Laura, that you were with me.” Laura burst into tears. “That is the walk,” she sobbed, “Kai Tzu and I so love; but never, ah, never, can we take it together agai...

Product details

• Authors: Sui Sin Far, Sui Sin Far, C Pam Zhang, C. PAm Zhang
• Publisher: Modern Library PRH US
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 11.05.2021
• EAN: 9780593241202
• ISBN: 978-0-593-24120-2
• No. of pages: 192
• Dimensions: 131 mm x 203 mm x 13 mm
• Series: Modern Library Torchbearers
• Subject: Fiction > Narrative literature