Daughters of the Sun and Moon By Lisa See

Pull up a chair by the window, listen to the water lap against the cove, and let this one carry you west. From a beloved New York Times bestselling author comes a sweeping work of historical fiction set in the dusty, restless pueblo of Los Angeles, 1870.

Three Chinese women arrive on the Gold Mountain, each carrying a different burden. Dove, the bound-footed daughter of an imperial scholar, is innocent and entrancing, bound for an arranged marriage to a much older merchant. Petal, big-footed and peasant-born, was sold by her own father for rice seed and shipped across the ocean, only to be sold again. Moon, educated and fluent in English, is married to a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine, yet a childhood footbinding gone wrong has left her with a limp that diminishes her worth in the eyes of many.

Dove wants to love and be loved. Petal wants freedom. Moon wants justice.

Around them, anti-Chinese sentiment simmers, then boils over into the Night of Horrors, a real and rarely told chapter of American history. Brought together by hardship and heartbreak, the three must draw on their bravery, their endurance, and their ability to “eat bitterness” to find their voices and one another.

This is the kind of novel we press into a friend’s hands with a knowing nod. Meticulously researched, deeply felt, and rich with the textures of daily life, it is a story about women’s friendship, resilience, and the families we build when the world offers us nothing. A new release in handsome hardcover, it makes a lovely gift, or a well-earned treat for yourself on a foggy Ogunquit afternoon.

Perfect for readers of literary and women’s historical fiction who love a story that lingers long after the last page.

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