title: The Celestials: A Novel
author:  Karen Shepard 
description: *Starred Review* Shepard&#x2019;s (The Bad Boy&#x2019;s Wife, 2004) latest offering is an elucidating historical novel peopled with a cast of emotionally fragile, intertwined characters. Calvin Sampson is a real-life shoe manufacturer in North Adams, Massachusetts, who, in 1870, struggles with the unionizing of his workers and replaces them with 75 Chinese laborers, the Celestials, who he recruits from California. Most are under 20 years old, and only the foreman speaks English, so Calvin&#x2019;s wife, Julia, organizes the townswomen to teach them their new language. Julia, who has survived 13 miscarriages, is joined by, among others, young Lucy, a rape victim who sees the endeavor as a way of moving on with her life; and her friend Ida, who has been assisting Lucy in her recovery. Shepard sprinkles her story with authentic period details and adroitly explores the many ways this &#x201C;Chinese experiment&#x201D; affects the small Massachusetts town. When Julia mysteriously disappears for seven months, and returns carrying a mixed-race child, the novel takes on a dimension of suspense. The Celestials is a mesmerizing exploration of one intriguing period in American history and the heart-wrenching consequences of actions perhaps taken too lightly. --Deborah Donovan
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  J. Benjamin
  
  
  The Celestial Minds
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Copyright © 2021 by J. Benjamin
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or
  transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
  recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the
  publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or
  distribute it by any other means without permission.
  
  
  
  
  
  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents
  portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to
  actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
  
  
  
  
  
  J. Benjamin asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this
  work.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  First edition
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Cover art by Jeff Brown  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy  
  
  
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