عدد الصفحات : ٢٧٩ صفحةنوع الكتاب : سيرة ذاتية لهجة سرد الكتاب : الفصحى نبذة عن الكتاب : تدور أحداث الرواية عن حياة لالو منذ الصغر إلى وفاتها ، كل مامرت به من عقبات وصعاب وتحديات ومواقف سواء كانت حزينة و مرعبة أو سعيدة ودافئة صراحة انا في البداية كنت احسبها رواية عادية وكنت مضايقة من القفزات الزمنية الي كانت تحصل بدون مبرر لكن لما وصلت للصفحات الاخيرة فهمت واستوعبت انو كان لها مبرر ، صراحة قصة لالو أثرت فيا و كل مااشوف كيف انها كنت صابرة وشجاعة وكل الي مرت فيه حسيت من جد تستاهل انو ينكتب عنها كتا...

Historical fiction based on the life of Lalu Nathoy, a Chinese teen who was kidnapped by bandits in northern China in 1871. She was sold to a brothel and subsequently sold to a Chinese man in Idaho where she was renamed Polly. The novel contains photographs of Polly as well as her ranch. Today, she is valued as one of Idaho's legendary pioneers.

I became familiar with Lalu/ Polly Nathoy in my senior year of college while enrolled in a Women of the West history class. The whitewashing of United States history is such that to learn the plight of Chinese women in the mid to late 1800s was not a complete surprise, I’d heard whispers of such, but was still unfamiliar enough that Polly’s story stood out to me in my class.We watched the film adaptation of this book and her story has been stuck in my head ever since. I’ve rewatched the movie at...

This fast read was really interesting to me. As a 13 year old girl, Lalu is forcibly sold to a bandit, then to a brothel, then brought to America and sold to a Chinese saloon owner in Idaho, where her name is changed to Polly. A local man wins her in a poker game, as an effort to free her. She appreciates him and eventually comes to love him. Together they were among the first pioneers in the Salmon Canyon. Their cabin there has been deemed important to Idaho's heritage and in 1988 was listed in...

If you've never heard of this book, it's probably because it was first published in 1981, before the blockbuster success of books like The Joy Luck Club and Red Azalea expanded our understanding of Chinese American culture. This book is a biography of Lalu Nathoy, a Chinese girl sold into slavery and brought to San Francisco. Forced to work in a brothel, auctioned to the owner of a saloon and given away in a poker game, Lalu still manages to cling to a fierce sense of her worth. Her eventual vic...

I’ve read a lot of books about pioneer women, but this one is quite different. It is the story of a real life woman named Polly Bemis who lived in Idaho during the latter part of the 1800’s and early 1900’s. Polly was born in China but was sold by her father to keep the family from starving. She eventually was purchased by a Chinese businessman living in America. Polly was very independent and after she was became free from her owner, she became quite successful herself. She opened and ran a boa...

This is an utterly delightful book. I recommend it. You need different books for different moods. This book will make you happy. I think it's because it is optimistic, that isn't to say bad things are excluded from its pages. That is far from true. The book is exciting - bandits, a fire, shootings. This is a biographical novel about the Chinese woman Lalu Nathoy (1853-1933), sold to bandits by her beloved father for the mere sum of two bags of seeds. I intentionally wrote “beloved father”. He wa...

I really enjoyed this book, both as a bit of Idaho history and as a well told, and unique story. I read it while I hiked through the Frank Church Wilderness, where the Salmon River flows and near where the story primarily takes places. I read the ebook version which included an essay added later after publication in which the author explained in detail how she compiled the history and facts to tell Polly Bemis's story, told as a biographical novel. It's worth finding that version, not only to un...

McCunn's descriptions of the novel's settings are incredibly vivid and illustrative; her choice of words are definitely not superfluous which gives a touch of simplicity to the tale she weaves. The emotions she tries to capture of her characters in the novel are portrayed perfectly through her words, most notably the scenes that involved intense movements and actions filled with tension and suspense.However, it is important to comment on her failure to mention worldwide events, such as the Great...

I loved this book, not only because of the good writing, but because Polly Bemis, the 13 year old girl, lived in Warren City, Idaho, where my maternal grandfather was born. My great grandfather and my grandfather knew both her and her husband Charlie Bemis. So, I have stood on the steps of her house in Warren and feel as though her history is also a part of my family's history.