Mrs. Spring Fragrance and Other Writings
Sui Sin Far, Edith Maude Eaton, C Pam Zhang (introduction)In this rediscovered classic of linked short stories set in San Francisco’s Chinatown, Sui Sin Far portrays Chinese immigrants as they fall in love, encounter racism, & wrestle with their new Americanized identities—decades before writers like Maxine Hong Kingston and Amy Tan.
By turns tender & dramatic, Mrs. Spring Fragrance tells of the Chinese women & men as they confront prejudice & forced detention; choose to assimilate or stay true to their cultural heritage; meet both kind & predatory Americans; & find love, purpose, & understanding in their new home.
These stories are windows into the lives of everyday people in an unforgiving city, who find solidarity & hope in the most unexpected places.
The Modern Library Torchbearers series features women who wrote on their own terms, with boldness, creativity, & a spirit of resistance.
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A century before Maxine Hong Kingston, Amy Tan, & Gish Jen, Sui Sin Far wrote fictional, autobiographical, & journalistic works that portray Chinese American identities & communities, experiences & worlds, discrimination & successes, with nuance & power.
Far, christened Edith Maude Eaton before adopting her Chinese pen name for all her published writings, was born in England to an English father & a Chinese immigrant mother. The family moved to Montreal a few years later, & she grew up in that multi-cultural Canadian city before spending a lifetime traveling & living throughout the Americas, including extended stints in the Caribbean, San Francisco, Seattle, & Boston.
Far produced both travel & autobiographical writings about these communities & about the lives & identities of Chinese Americans in them.