The early part of the book held my attention with the hope for more. Ended up skimming the latter part, though.

I do think this is an important story of the early West and there are several interesting elements to it. The latter part of the book settles into a story of pioneering and farming, though, and was not enough to keep my interest.

After whitewater rafting many times down the Main Salmon and stopping by the Polly Bemis ranch, I always wanted to read this story. I was not disappointed. She was more resilient than I could have imagined. She had grit, smarts, health, and a big heart- everything needed to survive the weather,
Hardship, discrimination. I quite enjoyed learning of her culture and then learning about the early Chinese immigrants in Idaho. I found the book to be an easy read and closed the last chapter knowing I learned a lot. By the way, while visiting St Gertrude’s Monastery In Cottonwood, Idaho- I saw many of Polly’s possessions at their museum, worth a stop.

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 boarding house for many years, and then her own farm. While Polly was a great character to read about, I think the book could have been a little more interesting. I felt like there were a lot of gaps in the story that could have been filled in and some of the characters could have been fleshed out a little more. However, I am glad I got a chance to reading about this woman who is just one of the many wonderful characters we have in our country’s history. I received this book from Library Thing in exchange for a review.

Northern China in the 1860s and 1870s is a tough place to grow up. Between bandits and soldiers who often act worse than the bandits, Lalu's life definitely has its ups and downs. After a severe drought strikes, Lalu's father is forced to sell her to protect the rest of the family. A twist of fate finds her on her way to America, sold to a saloonkeeper in gold country. Hopeful to someday be free, Lalu doesn't understand a country where blacks are free but Chinese can't even own property.

Based on a true story. Recommended for lovers of historical fiction, the American West, the gold rush and Chinese in America, this story gives a deeper look into life in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

#poppyreads2018

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 understand how difficult it would have been to uncover Polly's story, but the efforts with which the author went to length to tell the story as accurately possible - as well as the author's own journey provide a short small story as well.

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.

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 was not a bad man, but the times were bad. Soon after, in 1872, she was smuggled into the US through San Francisco and re-sold for 2.500 USD. To whom? To a wealthy Chinese named Hong King, owner of a saloon at the mining camp in Warrens, Idaho. It was the era of the Gold Rush. Just guess what her job was to be.

What happens next is the central part of the book. How did she become Polly Bemis? What was it like to be Chinese in America at the turn of the century? This is after the Civil War. Blacks were free. Right? Well on paper. What about the Chinese? We are looking at a strong woman who valued freedom. Also a child/woman without family, without kin, without country. Who did she come to be? What did she make of her life?

The story is told very simply but covers such deep issues. Freedom. Independence and self-sufficiency. Bound feet. Rape. Chinese immigrants in the American West. Pioneer life. Friendship. Love and happiness and regrets. Aging.

The narration by Emily Zeller was very well done. Her intonations reflect men, women and children equally well. Easy to follow.

Sometimes you need to hear of a person who makes something of their life…. against all odds. The beauty of the telling is that the story is told simply, without fuss, without exaggeration. Without shrieks and exclamations. A woman, a good woman, who quietly and unobtrusively shaped her own life and those around her.

Three stars? Four stars? If you ask me if I liked the book, my immediate response is, “Yes, I really liked it! “ So I ought to give it four. Can’t a simply told story be worthy of four stars? Somehow I think three is better.

This biographical novel, about Lalu/Polly, is astonishing since it is a true story. Ruthanne Lum McCunn tells this story of a Chinese woman brought to the United States in slavery as a girl and her remarkable life of achieving her freedom as a pioneer by the Salmon River in Idaho. McCunn does such a great service by illuminating a story that represents part of our American history that has been "silenced".

I finished the book in one sitting and could not put it down! This book made me cry, laugh and celebrate the triumphs of Lalu.

The story of Paula Bemis or Lalu Nathoy, a Chinese girl who is sold for seed during a Chinese drought in the late 1800's. In San Francisco she luckily avoids the prostitution cribs and is sold to work in an Idaho bar. Her Chinese lover is killed in an accident but his White friend gambles to win her freedom. But Chinese have no rights in the US. Charlie, her husband, gives her what freedom she can have, first running a rooming hours, later moving to a farm. The story does not flesh out the characters and reads more like a HS reading book story.

Because it is based on a real person, it makes the book so much more special.