GOLD MOUNTAIN

A Chinese girl disguises herself as a boy to work on the perilous construction of the transcontinental railroad.

It is 1867, and 15-year-old Tam Ling Fan just lost her twin brother,​​ Jing Fan, to an influenza outbreak. Her magistrate father was also recently falsely accused of treason and imprisoned, and her family expects Ling Fan to follow her duties as a young woman. Through an advantageous marriage, the Tams could become allied with a powerful family who might wield their influence to assist Baba. Ling Fan sees another path, however. Disguised as Jing Fan, she boards a ship to California with a prized railroad contract in hand. But railroad work is a dangerous affair—and she might have underestimated how long it would take to collect enough money for a bribe to help free Baba. Yee takes readers on a vivid journey through the pressures testing those joining the race to build the first transcontinental railroad—from physical dangers and mental stress to the lure of vices. Racial tensions and xenophobia are ever present as well. At home in China as well as among her fellow workers, Ling Fan navigates the dynamics of her class privilege and her gender. A degree of impulsivity and naïve trust in others sometimes jeopardizes her already precarious situation, but luck keeps her from harm, and her persistence and perseverance, though tested, are unyielding.

An adventure-filled glimpse into history through the eyes of a determined daughter.