Mrs. Spring Fragrance

Edith Maude Eaton wrote as Sui Sin Far, and this 1912 collection was the first book of fiction published in America by a writer of Chinese descent. The stories move through the Chinatowns of Seattle and San Francisco, following married couples, children, and Eurasians of divided loyalty as they work out what belonging means in a country whose exclusion laws had made them unwelcome by statute. The title character is sly and warm, a matchmaker with a sharp eye for her white neighbors. The second half gathers stories written for children. Eaton could have passed as white and chose not to, and that decision runs through everything here. Free PDF and EPUB edition available here.