title: A Concubine for the Family: A Family Saga in China (A CHINESE FAMILY SAGA)
author: Amy S. Kwei
description: This saga about a Chinese family is YA-novelist Kweis first for adults. In 1937, Purple Jade, the soon-to-be matriarch of the Huang household, contemplates her tiny lotus feet. No one calls them golden lilies anymore. Now they are only tiny feet and worse than your big feet, she says to her beloved servant, Orchid. But Purple Jade has other concerns beyond the constant pain in her bound feet: Theres an unsettling influence of American and European West Ocean Devils; internal strife between the Nationalists and Communists; and an impending Japanese invasionthey have taken Manchuria alreadythat threatens Confucian China, a world that will soon disappear forever. Kwei details Chinese traditions and the fascinating but evanescent world as only someone steeped in the old ways could. An adept stylist and storyteller, Kwei weaves with simplicity this tale of upper-class China in upheaval. For all the difficulties looming on the horizon, its another, more immediate problem that possesses Purple Jade, one that impinges on the familys honor: The book-fragrant and scholarly Huangs lack a son. Having a male heir is a matter of prestige, but Purple Jade has produced only two girls, Golden Bell and Silver Bell. Putting aside her own jealousy in the hope of saving the familys honor, Purple Jade decides to get her husband, Righteous Virtue, a concubine. Kwei artfully reveals the practices and attitudes of Old China to those who may never have encountered Chinese ideas. For her part, Purple Jade is not sure if a foreigner could ever savor the heart-swelling glory of giving face, and subjecting oneself to virtue. Kwei also effectively contrasts traditional roles of women with Western feminism. Miss Tyler, an American teacher at the Christian school, may find Purple Jades ideas of virtue strange, but Purple Jade finds Miss Tylers defense of womens rights just as odd. This is a novel that casts its own unique spell. An engaging family saga by a talented storyteller.
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  The Pact
  
  
  
  
  
  > The Pact
  
  > The Pact
  
  
  
  
  
  > The Pact
  
  > NOW
  
  > November 1997
  
  > There was nothing left to say.
  
  > He covered her body with his, and as she put her arms around him she could
  > picture him in all his incarnations: age five, and still blond; age eleven,
  > sprouting; age thirteen, with the hands of a man. The moon rolled, sloe-eyed
  > in the night sky; and she breathed in the scent of his skin. “I love you,”
  > she said.
  
  > He kissed her so gently she wondered if she had imagined it. She pulled back
  > slightly, to look into his eyes.
  
  > And then there was a shot.
  
  > Although THERE had never been a standing reservation made, the rear corner
  > table of the Happy Family Chinese restaurant was always saved on Friday
  > nights for the Hartes and the Golds, who had been coming there for as long
  > as anyone could remember. Years ago, they had brought the children,
  > littering the crowded nook with high chairs and diaper bags until it was
  > nearly impossible for the 