The Chinese Lady by Bo Wang
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
HarperVia
384 pages. Hardcover.
Little Sparrow, Julia, Afong Moy, Madame Moy, The Chinese Lady, were her many names . . . but her true name has been lost to time.
In 1834 Afong Moy was brought to New York by two merchants as a live exhibit. Rising to fame as the first Chinese female in the United States, she became an oddity among curios as Americans marveled at the opportunity to observe her astonishing little feet, broken and bound to resemble lotuses.
As the story moves from 1820s Canton to P.T. Barnum’s American Museum, to Gold Rush San Francisco, three women introduce us to her many names. Her mother calls her Little Sparrow and sells her to a captain who sails her to New York. The captain’s wife names her Julia and “graciously” treats her as her own. And when she is shunted off to P.T Barnum, her fellow human exhibitions call her China. Eventually arriving in San Francisco's Chinatown, she will at long last claim her name and her own story.
Combining archival research and brilliantly imaginative storytelling, Bo Wang masterfully fills in history’s gaps to weave a powerful narrative of survival in the face of hardship, tragedy, and betrayal. Told through the eyes of those around her; mirroring her life as an object on display, until we finally see the world through her own eyes."
The Chinese Lady is a historical fiction novel that tells of the story of Afong Moy, reported to be the first Chinese women to immigrate to the United States. This book tells her story from her childhood in China through her journey to America, where she is essentially treated and repeatedly exhibited as a sort of "exotic" curiosity to Americans throughout many stages of her life. As a result, we as readers are able to follow along her journey through the eyes of many people around her, which allows for a very unique look at observing Moy's experiences of being consistently objectified and displayed for Western audiences.
I think since this story is about Afong Moy, I expected the majority of it to follow her perspective, but instead we follow the perspectives of a couple different characters whose lives interweave with Moy's at various points of her life. Based on where the synopsis says this story its told "with an exciting structure that reinvents the genre," I think this is likely the structure that is meant, as we largely follow Afong's story via these other people. I do appreciate this approach in some capacity, as I think it does allow for some interesting contemplation around how others may have perceived her at the time, and we are able to then compare that to what we know of her childhood and experience up to that point. And what I actually dop really like about this structure is how it allows us to also view Moy slightly removed in a sense that heavily displays her lack of agency of how she is treated in the United States, which mirrors her lack of agency in telling her own story throughout this book, which I found very effectively done.
As much as I appreciate this structure, I did still end up often findings myself wanting a bit more from Moy herself rather than just seeing her actions through the eyes of others. Perhaps if there had been a bit more of her POV interspersed, even just brief vignettes of chapters here and there, it might've helped with that feeling of not really getting to know Moy as much as I'd prefer, but I understand the author's choices around this all the same and I do think that the way the story was structured did still lead to an intriguing story experience.
Despite some of my complaints about the structure, however, I actually found that there were a lot of strengths to it. I think by seeing how those around Moy viewed her and treated her, we as readers were able to learn and experience so much about how she was viewed from a societal standpoint in the United States. We follow Moy's experiences as a child in China with her mother, Pearl; with Margaret, a white woman from America who I would say falls into more of the "white savior" idea; Joyce, a Black woman who is a part of the P.T. Barnum circus where Moy (referred to as "China" by those at the circus) ends up; and lastly, we get to follow Moy herself for the final conclusion. Being able to see how not only Moy was treated by so many different types of people, but also seeing how the characters whose perspectives we followed were also treated added so much depth to this story in a way that I found really fascinating and compelling. This book really delves into everything from racism, sexism and the patriarchy, classism, colonialism, idea around "Othering" that span from race to deformities and more, and so many more themes are deftly explored through these many disparate experiences, and I do applaud the author for managing to do so in a coherent way throughout this story.
Overall, if you are at all interested in historical fiction, then I would encourage you to check out The Chinese Lady. I don't think it's going to be for everyone based upon the structure, as I know many people will prefer to follow purely from Moy's perspective, but I still think it's very much worth the read, even if only to spark your curiosity enough to look up more about Afong Moy and early Chinese immigration and experiences int he United States--or even more about the history of P.T. Barnum's circus. Bo Wang has undertaken a difficult task and created a very intriguing story that definitely leaves me curious to hopefully read more from them in the future.
*I received a copy of The Chinese Lady courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This has no effect on my rating or enjoyment.*
Buy the book: Amazon | Bookshop.org
