One of the best books I've read this year. I understand that chances are that it's not entirely historically accurate, however it was still illuminating, and I would recommend to anyone who likes historical fiction or generally historical reads.

The story of Lalu, a young Chinese girl, sold by her father for two bags of seed is roughly based on the real character, Polly Bemis. Lalu is eventually brought to America and sold to a brothel and then to an innkeeper in the West during the Gold Rush. There she struggles to survive with the help of a friend Charlie Bemis. Their lives in the American West offer a western unlike many others I've read.

Lu pour le travail, je voulais m'assurer qu'il s'agissait d'un livre jeunesse, vu que le sujet et le livre en lui-même pouvaient faire croire que ce n'était pas le cas.
Et je sais toujours pas. Peut-être est-ce la traduction, mais le style est confus, on ne comprend pas toujours la géographie des choses ou les actions, et une photo de Polly le jour de son mariage indique 1914 dans la partie de sa vie allant jusqu'à... 1894. Ce genre d'erreur ajoutant donc au gros sentiment de confusion.
Mais à ce style assez basique et rapide qui s'adaptera it à un public plus jeune s'ajoute des descriptions parfois assez dures qui font s'interroger sur le type de public vise.
La vie de Lalu Nathoy/Polly Bemis est bien trop survolée pour qu'on puisse de plonger dans l'histoire : on s'attarde sur un événement, avant de sauter des années entre deux paragraphes, voire 30 ans entre la fin d'une partie et le début de la suivante !
Bref, contente d'avoir découvert ce personnage de pionnière chinoise, mais vraiment, la page Wikipedia est plus intéressante.

A good read.

Three stars because the writing is not very well done. But it may still be worth reading, because the era (gold rush) and main character (Chinese woman, raised in poverty, brought to the United States during a time when Chinese people - especially women - had no rights, were slaves at a time when other slaves had been freed. The author has clearly done her research, and stitched together a novelized version of the tiny evidence of an actual woman who won over odds. To her benefit, the life story isn't embroidered with (overmuch) romanticism and happy endings - it reads real and difficult, as it must have been. But the frustration, for me, is that the results of her research are underexamined, and the novelized aspects are too thin and sparse. The narrative skips ahead and leaves readers imagining - normally a good thing! - but ultimately, inadequate.

An inspiring piece of Chinese-American history in Idaho!

A small-ish book. Vaguely graphic in a couple of spots. And past the first part of her being sold and taken to Idaho, the 2nd half of the story is basically just summarizing the rest of her life. Interesting, but this could have been told in a couple of pages.

An incredible story

This was a book club read of a supposed Idaho-based, non-fiction book. However, I found it difficult that in consideration of the location, time period, and race of the main character, Lalu Nathoy, to believe that it wasn't mostly fictionalized material (re: the person herself). That being said the book was incredibly sad and brutal at times before ultimately reaching a quasi-inspirational climax. I'm a current resident of Idaho and see firsthand the mostly insular thinking of its people, particularily those residing in very rural areas. It's hard for me to believe that "Polly" would've been able to thrive in that time period. And, if she did, then it for sure can be called a real accomplishment and testament to a person's strength of character. Or, just maybe, she benefited from being associated with the right man at the time.

Thousand Pieces of Gold is a fictional biography of a Chinese woman who was sold by her father in 1871 and brought to California to work in a brothel. Lalu Nathoy, who came to be known as Polly Bemis, is a real person and lived until 1933 when she died in Idaho.

The title comes from the expression Lalu's father had used to describe her value to him before he was forced to sell her to survive famine. He called her his 'Thousand Pieces of Gold.' Unfortunately, when he did sell her he only received 2 sacks of seed.

Although she was sent to a brothel in San Francisco, she was saved from working there when she was once again sold and put up for auction. A Chinese saloon owner purchased her to take to the saloon he was running at a miner's camp. She eventually went on to become a businesswoman and at last a landowner through marriage to an American. She remained a strong woman who did not want to depend on anyone else to take care of her after having been betrayed by her father.

Although the story of Lalu/Polly's life was interesting, I have only given the book 3 stars because the novel often felt like a history textbook. We are give very little information about what she did in her work at the saloon. There were also large gaps of time between events described in her life---sometimes as long as 14 years and occasionally, the transitions between events and people were disjointed. We are give very little information about what she did in her work at the saloon.

However, I would still recommend it to others who enjoy reading about memorable women in history. It also gives the readers a glimpse into the life of the men who went to California mining for gold.

I watched the movie first and then read the book for the rest of the incredible story.

The first part of this book was captivating.
Around the middle it started to become dull, and by the end just straight up boring.

The true story is really short, the book is filled with descriptive everyday life things. For instance a gripping a glass till it breaks and a sharp of glass piercing skin and bringing it to her mouth to such the salty blood ... etc.

I was really thinking this deserved a 5 star in the beginning, at the end a 1 star. In the middle makes it a 3 star.