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Denise Chong, The Concubine's Children book cover
1995: Denise Chong, The Concubine's Children

1995: Denise Chong, The Concubine's Children

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Description

The Concubine's Children is the story of a family cleaved in two for the sake of a father’s dream. In 1913, Chan Sam left an “at home” wife in China to earn a living in “Gold Mountain.” Eleven years later, May-ying, the wilful, seventeen-year-old concubine he bought, sight unseen, travels to join him where she labors in tea houses of west coast Chinatowns to support the family in Canada, and the one in China. It was the concubine’s third daughter, the author’s mother, who unlocked the past for her daughter whose curiosity about some old photographs ultimately reunited a family divided for most of the last century. Heartfelt and beautifully written, The Concubine's Children is an inspiring story of the sacrifice that tore a family apart and the love that bound them back together.

Judges' Comments

Chong's gripping memoir of her family's life in China and Vancouver was considered by this year's panel of judges to be an outstanding example of the genre.

Learn More

Explore the works of our previous Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction winners.

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