First Daughter

by Whitney Stine

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0441239250
• ISBN13: 9780441239252
• Release Date: June 1985
• Publisher: Penguin Adult Hc/Tr
• Length: 486 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Out of print, but not bad.

I found this book in a used bookstore and it is an entertaining novel about turn of the century China during it's cultural revolution. China is invaded by foreign clocks, by Keroscene lanterns, by railroads, and by foreign missionaries spreading the word of Christ. It is a battle between superstition and technology, between the old ways that the chinese want to hold on to, and the new. All together, an entertaining book, worth reading for the history alone. The plot follows a rich family, the "porcelan" Shans as they flee to another part of the country to escape a bad deal made. On the way, a journey up the Kinsha Kang river, they are overtaken by bandits, and the pregnant Little Pearl is the only one who survives. She is adopted by the bandits and taken to one of the more remote places of the country, high in the mountains. There, she has a daughter named Chinee, and the novel follows their adventures.