Описание: This edition of the book is published in honor of the sesquicentennial of the building of the railroad. Between the years of 1864 and 1869, Chinese laborers joined Irish immigrants in a race to complete the project. The Chinese proved to be of great value as they laid track at a much faster rate than their Irish counterparts due to their strong work ethic and sense of community. They didn't get inebriated with regularity, were strict about cleanliness, and boiled their food (preventing communicable and intestinal illness.)
Irish Luck, Chinese Medicine has several love stories, including one between an Irish woman and Chinese man. As immigrants these two would have many things in common: fleeing oppression, escaping starvation, confronting prejudice, and surviving violence. It may seem improbable but in the late 19th Century, Irish "Bridget's" sailed to America to clean house in the east and Chinese men came to build the railroad out west - a gender imbalance in both communities led to relationships and some marriages too. These lovers found each other only because of a friendship between the physician and an Irishman that started on the railroad.
Another couple in the book are priest, torn between their vows of celibacy and their attraction to one another. They also serve a community torn apart by labor unrest. In Anthracite coal country bosses and politicians persecuted miners and their families. (Children as young as six worked as Breaker Boys sorting coal.) The priests were called upon to help miners but often worked at cross purposes, attempting to quell the Molly Maguires, a secret vigilante society. Transplanted from Ireland, the Molly Maguires fought for fair labor practices, as well as perpetrating vigilante justice.
They story also features several children, Irish dancers, and Chinese acupuncturists and bone setters, a Philadelphia crime boss, and an inspiring Mother Superior who saves the day.
The story of immigrant survival is loosely based on my great grandmother, who came to the USA in 1881. The novel is dedicated to the millions who have endured tempest tossed lives fo their children could breathe free.
