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Chasing Down the Moon
"All around her the day looked as she might have expected, bright, the sun just skimming through the eastern peaks, the up-and-down song of little yellow-throated birds. In that moment, she understood the nature of her life: an outlier."
In 1883, a young Chinese woman is sold by her father to human traffickers and forcibly taken from her family and home in the mountains of Hunan. Facing brutality and deprivation, Ya Zhen must forge within herself a core of strength that will allow her to survive. Her journey ends thousands of miles and a continent away when she’s purchased in San Francisco as an indentured prostitute and taken to Eureka, a rugged and remote area of coastal California. This fledgling outpost—a coarse place filled with lumber mills, brothels, churches, and saloons—is bounded by ocean on one side and heavy redwood forests everywhere else.
In Eureka, another woman, Rose Allen, doesn’t quite fit in. Big-hearted, but hard-headed and outspoken, Rose struggles against the prejudices and social expectations of her Victorian neighbors and acquaintances—especially after she falls in love with the Chinese shopkeeper, Bai Lum. When she learns that several Chinese women are kept as virtual slaves at Salyer’s Hotel, Rose joins forces with a small group of friends who are determined to help Ya Zhen escape her grim incarceration. But even as they devise a plan to get her free, a terrible accident precipitates the upheaval of the entire town, and tension mounts as the clock begins ticking for everyone.
With a rich cast of unforgettable characters both fictional and historical, Chasing Down the Moon is based on true events that tore a community apart. This gripping historical fiction and literary love story will break your heart, give you reason to hope, and ultimately make you believe in the resilience of the human spirit.
In 1883, a young Chinese woman is sold by her father to human traffickers and forcibly taken from her family and home in the mountains of Hunan. Facing brutality and deprivation, Ya Zhen must forge within herself a core of strength that will allow her to survive. Her journey ends thousands of miles and a continent away when she’s purchased in San Francisco as an indentured prostitute and taken to Eureka, a rugged and remote area of coastal California. This fledgling outpost—a coarse place filled with lumber mills, brothels, churches, and saloons—is bounded by ocean on one side and heavy redwood forests everywhere else.
In Eureka, another woman, Rose Allen, doesn’t quite fit in. Big-hearted, but hard-headed and outspoken, Rose struggles against the prejudices and social expectations of her Victorian neighbors and acquaintances—especially after she falls in love with the Chinese shopkeeper, Bai Lum. When she learns that several Chinese women are kept as virtual slaves at Salyer’s Hotel, Rose joins forces with a small group of friends who are determined to help Ya Zhen escape her grim incarceration. But even as they devise a plan to get her free, a terrible accident precipitates the upheaval of the entire town, and tension mounts as the clock begins ticking for everyone.
With a rich cast of unforgettable characters both fictional and historical, Chasing Down the Moon is based on true events that tore a community apart. This gripping historical fiction and literary love story will break your heart, give you reason to hope, and ultimately make you believe in the resilience of the human spirit.
- GenresHistorical FictionChina
349 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 15, 2015
94 people are currently reading
80 people want to read
About the author
Carla Baku
3 books6 followersCarla Baku holds a BA in English/Creative Writing from Stanford, and an MFA in fiction from the Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. Her award-winning fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction have been featured in numerous literary magazines, including Narrative, Calyx, and PMS.
Carla writes in beautiful Northern California, where she lives with her husband, four chickens, and an opinionated old cat.
Carla writes in beautiful Northern California, where she lives with her husband, four chickens, and an opinionated old cat.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 1, 2015
I enjoyed reading Carla Baku's Chasing Down the Moon, a compelling historical novel set in Eureka, California in the late 1800's. This book realistically depicts the horrific treatment of Chinese immigrants and serves as a reminder to us all that there are brave heroes who stand up for those being persecuted. Well-done! I look forward to reading your next book, Ms Baku!
June 28, 2015
A very good read
This was a very entertaining read. The characters were real and I it held my interest throughout the entire book. You just have to read it for yourself.
This was a very entertaining read. The characters were real and I it held my interest throughout the entire book. You just have to read it for yourself.
September 4, 2017
In 1883, a young Chinese woman is sold by her father to human traffickers and forcibly taken from her family and home in the mountains of Hunan. Facing brutality and deprivation, Ya Zhen must forge within herself a core of strength that will allow her to survive. Her journey ends thousands of miles and a continent away when she's purchased in San Francisco as an indentured prostitute and taken to Eureka, a rugged and remote area of coastal California. This fledgling outpost--a coarse place filled with lumber mills, brothels, churches, and saloons--is bounded by ocean on one side and heavy redwood forests everywhere else.
In Eureka, another woman, Rose Allen, doesn't quite fit in. Big-hearted, but hard-headed and outspoken, Rose struggles against the prejudices and social expectations of her Victorian neighbors and acquaintances--especially after she falls in love with the Chinese shopkeeper, Bai Lum. When she learns that several Chinese women are kept as virtual slaves at Salyer's Hotel, Rose joins forces with a small group of friends who are determined to help Ya Zhen escape her grim incarceration. But even as they devise a plan to get her free, a terrible accident precipitates the upheaval of the entire town, and tension mounts as the clock begins ticking for everyone.
With a rich cast of unforgettable characters both fictional and historical, Chasing Down the Moon is based on true events that tore a community apart. This gripping historical fiction and literary love story will break your heart, give you reason to hope, and ultimately make you believe in the resilience of the human spirit.
In Eureka, another woman, Rose Allen, doesn't quite fit in. Big-hearted, but hard-headed and outspoken, Rose struggles against the prejudices and social expectations of her Victorian neighbors and acquaintances--especially after she falls in love with the Chinese shopkeeper, Bai Lum. When she learns that several Chinese women are kept as virtual slaves at Salyer's Hotel, Rose joins forces with a small group of friends who are determined to help Ya Zhen escape her grim incarceration. But even as they devise a plan to get her free, a terrible accident precipitates the upheaval of the entire town, and tension mounts as the clock begins ticking for everyone.
With a rich cast of unforgettable characters both fictional and historical, Chasing Down the Moon is based on true events that tore a community apart. This gripping historical fiction and literary love story will break your heart, give you reason to hope, and ultimately make you believe in the resilience of the human spirit.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 1, 2017
I live in Eureka and so I suspect that I enjoyed this book more than a non-Eurekean. I must say that (a non-native Eurekean) did ponder why this old California city had so very few Asians at all. When talking about the book with some of the native residents, I learned that many they do know about the expulsion of the Chinese. (Eureka is also famous about a massacre of Native Americans, and some other terrible actions against them.)
I liked most of the characters, and that is one of the keys for me to enjoying a book. They were believable, flawed, but good people. Even the "evil" characters were totally believable, and often we were led to understand the "back story" of why they were so "evil." I enjoyed the historical accuracy. A bondswoman, (who unknowingly was bonded), working off her indebtedness by prostitution is horrific. Being a woman in that day in age, especially in China, was a sort of slavery in itself. And to think..... human trafficking is still going on!
I think that the book was well written, also!
I liked most of the characters, and that is one of the keys for me to enjoying a book. They were believable, flawed, but good people. Even the "evil" characters were totally believable, and often we were led to understand the "back story" of why they were so "evil." I enjoyed the historical accuracy. A bondswoman, (who unknowingly was bonded), working off her indebtedness by prostitution is horrific. Being a woman in that day in age, especially in China, was a sort of slavery in itself. And to think..... human trafficking is still going on!
I think that the book was well written, also!
August 2, 2017
While the fictional story had some unbelievable elements, this was still an overall satisfying and interesting perspective on the historical events.
December 27, 2017
Page turner
Loved the main characters and wanted to strangle the bad guys. What a story but sad that these things happened and still happen. Recommend this highly
Loved the main characters and wanted to strangle the bad guys. What a story but sad that these things happened and still happen. Recommend this highly
January 25, 2018
4 star
Intense yet mostly dark read. Credible historically although I haven't knowledge to verify accuracy. As dark as it is, it seems likely to be correct.
Intense yet mostly dark read. Credible historically although I haven't knowledge to verify accuracy. As dark as it is, it seems likely to be correct.
September 11, 2017
"Chasing Down The Moon" by Carla Baku is a mixed novel about human trafficking, slavery, prostitution and racial inequality...and believe it or not, it resolves in a happy ending! At first I was confused at who the main character was and it was slow reading, but once it came together, I had a difficult time putting the book down.
December 24, 2016
It's hard to rate this book, which I read on kindle, because while the story is very good, there are many places where the writing isn't. Most of it is fine. It reads as though an editor decided to replace words here and there, words that don't fit in meaning or otherwise, and there are missing words in my version. I found it disconcerting coming to these odd words, looking them up, and finding they don't fit at all. The voice is omniscient and it's uneven. Many of the odd words are old English and the story takes place in the later 1800s. However, other phrases are very modern, and many words just don't fit where they are, in meaning or otherwise. I looked up every single one I stumbled over. So it's the omniscient voice that's inconsistent, and it interrupted the flow of this lovely story. I'm giving 4 stars on story alone. There were places near the end where the writing shined but too many places where it distracted throughout.
The story is about a Chinese girl removed from her home at a young age, sold to traffickers, and moved from China to early America, to the west coast. There she is sold into prostitution with 3 other girls at a "hotel". After many incidents in the town and getting to know characters, the town decides to cleanse itself of all Chinese people, even though they serve needed positions in business.
This is a good read if you can manage the odd words misplaced and missing words.
The story is about a Chinese girl removed from her home at a young age, sold to traffickers, and moved from China to early America, to the west coast. There she is sold into prostitution with 3 other girls at a "hotel". After many incidents in the town and getting to know characters, the town decides to cleanse itself of all Chinese people, even though they serve needed positions in business.
This is a good read if you can manage the odd words misplaced and missing words.
September 19, 2019
Gripping tale that provides an all too brief insight into Agrarian China and the treatment of their daughters that never fails to stun Western Cultures. We in western cultures need the reminder of the generational racism prevalent in this country that Mattie (an Irish character in the book) provides,
“When I arrived in this country, it was bad for the Irish. When I first got to New York I looked for work as a housekeeper or just anything, you know. I had a lady look me right in the eye and say the Irish were no better than fleas... That woman wasn’t a generation from coming over on the boat herself, from somewhere. But that’s the way it is, Rose. A nation of immigrants, every one looking to be better than the next, and the lot of them like a dog biting on its own tail."
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like things have changed much and the latest batch of tired, hungry and poor huddled masses gets the very same treatment over a century later.
The story starts out as excellent historical fiction and only falls short of five stars as it morphs into more of a thriller novel that makes for a gripping read, but seems to move a little too quickly to fully develop the story.
“When I arrived in this country, it was bad for the Irish. When I first got to New York I looked for work as a housekeeper or just anything, you know. I had a lady look me right in the eye and say the Irish were no better than fleas... That woman wasn’t a generation from coming over on the boat herself, from somewhere. But that’s the way it is, Rose. A nation of immigrants, every one looking to be better than the next, and the lot of them like a dog biting on its own tail."
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like things have changed much and the latest batch of tired, hungry and poor huddled masses gets the very same treatment over a century later.
The story starts out as excellent historical fiction and only falls short of five stars as it morphs into more of a thriller novel that makes for a gripping read, but seems to move a little too quickly to fully develop the story.
May 20, 2022
A deeply disturbing, historical fiction of a very troubled time in my now home-town of Eureka. he author writes convincingly about a dark topic, adding the emotional and very human touches that make the characters come alive, besides the horrid truths of those that were very much alive then.
It is heartening to me that the The Eureka Chinatown Project has been formed to raise awareness about anti-Chinese discrimination and the diverse ways that Chinese Americans resisted racism and built community. By uncovering the history of resistance and resilience, they hope to tell the truth of the first Chinese Americans in Humboldt County, CA, their history, and further a journey towards a more inclusive and equitable future.
It is heartening to me that the The Eureka Chinatown Project has been formed to raise awareness about anti-Chinese discrimination and the diverse ways that Chinese Americans resisted racism and built community. By uncovering the history of resistance and resilience, they hope to tell the truth of the first Chinese Americans in Humboldt County, CA, their history, and further a journey towards a more inclusive and equitable future.
March 27, 2017
I enjoyed this book immensely. There are definitely some cringe worth/difficult parts to read. Not because of bad writing, because of GOOD writing. I am always dismayed with mans inhumanity to man. Still, although a work of fiction, this is based on true events and is our history. Because it depicts this history I hesitated to finish the book because I really did not know how it would end. I am very glad I found the courage because the ending was completely satisfying, at least to me. Highly recommended!
April 22, 2017
Still the same
An exciting story that kept me reading. Strong women are seldom appreciated by men. Three strong women face the prejudices of their time. We have come over 100 years since , but have we changed? Read Chasing Down the Moon for romance, some history and to open your mind.
An exciting story that kept me reading. Strong women are seldom appreciated by men. Three strong women face the prejudices of their time. We have come over 100 years since , but have we changed? Read Chasing Down the Moon for romance, some history and to open your mind.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews