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How White Men Assist in Smuggling Chinamen Across the Border in Puget Sound Country
Throughout history, many female writers have used male pen names for their work to be published or taken seriously.
In collaboration with the Women’s Prize for Fiction, we have put their real names on the front of their work for the first time to honour their achievements and give them the credit they deserve.
The collection of books celebrate the Women’s Prize for Fiction’s 25th anniversary of championing female writers everywhere.
Disguised as a man, she smuggled her story out into the world.
In collaboration with the Women’s Prize for Fiction, we have put their real names on the front of their work for the first time to honour their achievements and give them the credit they deserve.
The collection of books celebrate the Women’s Prize for Fiction’s 25th anniversary of championing female writers everywhere.
Disguised as a man, she smuggled her story out into the world.
6 pages, ebook
Published August 12, 2020
42 people want to read
About the author
Edith Maude Eaton
4 booksSee
Sui Sin Far
which was the pen name under which most of this author's book were published
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
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September 24, 2023Originally published (I think) 1904. It's full of the language and casual racism of the time. But otherwise, an interesting, if short, story matching the title exactly.
January 5, 2022
1/25 Reclaim Her Name
This is one of the titles from the controversial Reclaim Her Name campaign from 2020 when the Women Prize published free ebooks from women writers who wrote under male names. I've decided to make my way through them (because I downloaded them and they're just sitting there lol.
Anyway, this is essentially a short story about how some white men helped people from China get to San Francisco...by dressing them up as Native Americans. It's of its time but still weird.
This is one of the titles from the controversial Reclaim Her Name campaign from 2020 when the Women Prize published free ebooks from women writers who wrote under male names. I've decided to make my way through them (because I downloaded them and they're just sitting there lol.
Anyway, this is essentially a short story about how some white men helped people from China get to San Francisco...by dressing them up as Native Americans. It's of its time but still weird.
January 28, 2021
There’s no getting round the fact that this is just a short story rather than a book, and my review will have to reflect that.
It was released as part of the “Reclaim her Name” series, a historical collection of female writers who had decided that they needed to write under a male pen-name in order to be published. This time, though, the books have been released with the author’s female name on the cover. The books were made available for free as ebooks in August 2020, with a boxed set of paperbacks printed specially for donation to libraries. I downloaded the books when they were released, but I am only now getting around to reading some of them. This one is the first of the series which I have tried so far.
This short story is an interesting period piece. Apparently it was written in 1904 and published in a magazine under a different name. A quick look around the internet turns up some disagreement about the authorship of this piece, and several others which were also published quickly under pseudonyms with no record of the real author. Fort the purpose of this review I will assume that the Womens’ prize for Fiction got it right.
The story is essentially a “caper”. It describes a crime, in this case people trafficking, complete with details of disguises, hiding, evading the authorities, and touch-and-go- scrapes. Interestingly, compared to the first book from this series that I read, it is competently told from a male perspective, and if you were to read it with a man’s name on the cover it would not be a surprise. It’s a fun romp, told as an anecdote from someone who was there at the time.
The main issue with this story for a modern audience is the inherent attitude of racism which runs through it. From the title onward there is a sharp distinction between on one hand the “White Men”, who all have names, descriptions, and character and, on the other hand, the “Chinamen” and “Natives”, who were largely faceless and interchangeable. This was a bit uncomfortable to deal with, but obviously it was representative of the attitudes of many people (including, presumably, the readers of the magazine in which it was originally published.
If I ignore the race issues, I enjoyed the story. It had a definite “pulp adventure” feel.
It was released as part of the “Reclaim her Name” series, a historical collection of female writers who had decided that they needed to write under a male pen-name in order to be published. This time, though, the books have been released with the author’s female name on the cover. The books were made available for free as ebooks in August 2020, with a boxed set of paperbacks printed specially for donation to libraries. I downloaded the books when they were released, but I am only now getting around to reading some of them. This one is the first of the series which I have tried so far.
This short story is an interesting period piece. Apparently it was written in 1904 and published in a magazine under a different name. A quick look around the internet turns up some disagreement about the authorship of this piece, and several others which were also published quickly under pseudonyms with no record of the real author. Fort the purpose of this review I will assume that the Womens’ prize for Fiction got it right.
The story is essentially a “caper”. It describes a crime, in this case people trafficking, complete with details of disguises, hiding, evading the authorities, and touch-and-go- scrapes. Interestingly, compared to the first book from this series that I read, it is competently told from a male perspective, and if you were to read it with a man’s name on the cover it would not be a surprise. It’s a fun romp, told as an anecdote from someone who was there at the time.
The main issue with this story for a modern audience is the inherent attitude of racism which runs through it. From the title onward there is a sharp distinction between on one hand the “White Men”, who all have names, descriptions, and character and, on the other hand, the “Chinamen” and “Natives”, who were largely faceless and interchangeable. This was a bit uncomfortable to deal with, but obviously it was representative of the attitudes of many people (including, presumably, the readers of the magazine in which it was originally published.
If I ignore the race issues, I enjoyed the story. It had a definite “pulp adventure” feel.
July 17, 2022
So….I finished it and wasn’t too sure about what actually happened apart from it being a first person account of someone smuggling Chinese people into the USA. Bit racist in places but that is probably because of the time.
Part of Reclaim Her Name series. Goes towards me reading more women but eh- not for me.
Part of Reclaim Her Name series. Goes towards me reading more women but eh- not for me.
August 22, 2020
Interesting first person account of assisting with a human smuggling operation. I'd have never come across this if it weren't included in the Reclaim Her Name collection but completely different and captivating all the same.
August 14, 2020
I just didn’t particularly like it.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews