Words for Wednesday: Shanghai Girls, Dreams of Joy, and The days the Falls Stood Still

First off sorry I have been MIA.  Went to Vietnam and then was busy welcoming new teachers and getting ready for the new school year the week I got back.  I managed to finish one book in that time and started another which is half way done.  The first one I read is actually the sequel to a book I read a few years ago so I'll talk about both.

Shanghai Girls tells the story of Pearl and May who are sisters growing up in prewar Shanghai.  Though their parents are traditional Chinese, they are quite modern and work as models for an artist who makes posters advertising various products.  They go to night clubs, wear western clothing, and consider themselves modern women.

I don't want to give too much away, but things change when their father admits to being bankrupt and the girls are forced to become arranged brides to Chinese brothers in America.  At first they refuse to go, thinking they'll make their own money through modelling, but the war comes and they end up going to America to escape the Japanese.  Their life as immigrants and brides in America is vastly different, though they do get work as extras in Hollywood films.

The book is a quick read and tells about a part of WWII that I hadn't really thought about.  I've always been interested in that era but mostly focused on Europe or Japan.  I also love the details of life as an immigrant in 1940s America.  Being an immigrant myself, I can relate to some of the issues and frustrations of a language barrier, homesickness, and racism.  Of course my life is very easy compared to what the two sisters go through.

Dreams of Joy picks up where Shanghai Girls left off.  It's hard to describe the plot without spoiling the first book, but lets just say that Pearl ends up back in Shanghai about 20 years later under communist ruled China.  Obviously things are very different and just as dangerous as they were when she left.  I have read a couple of true stories about people living through the rule of Chairman Mao and some of the hardships/horrors they faced.  While fact is great, fiction is fun.  This book is interesting as it is able to present various viewpoints- both those supporting Mao and those against.  With fact, a lot of times you just get the authors feelings.  Anyway, as a set the books are some of the best I have ever read.  A little harsh and graphic at times, but good.

The Day the Falls Stood Still is a book I picked up for $3 at Barnes & Noble.  Not one that I really thought about, just liked the price.  It is about a girl named Bess living in Canada near Niagra Falls  during WWI.  The book starts with her finding out her father has lost his job at a Niagra Falls power plant and that she is to be taken out of boarding school.  Her sister has had her engagement broken off to the new family situation, and the mother has had to start working as a dress maker.  The father spends his day drinking at a nearby hotel.  Thus the girl goes from riches to rags.  The family comes to the conclusion that the best hope they have of reclaiming their status is to marry their daughters and to marry them well.  Thus Bess finds herself transformed from school girl to debutante, a role she hates.  Added to this is a young man she meets who seems to be a bit of a nomad.  He earns his keep by fishing at the base of the falls and by bar tending.

I'm enjoying this story as I never really thought about the fact that their are people living in Niagra Falls and that those who do live their would be somewhat dependant on it for their livelihood.  Also, given the time period the description of how people go about their daily lives and how tourists see the falls is interesting.  It isn't really an amazing book, but for $3 it's pretty entertaining.