Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

Ratings Explanation

Language:  The “S” word was used twice along with one instance of the “B” word. The words “whore” and “bastard” were used a handful of times.

Violence:  There was mention of bandits having smashed a man’s skull with a shovel. They also sliced off a boy’s ear. A man’s head was severed, and a horse’s eyes were gouged out. Bandits kick and threaten with a knife. Rape is mentioned. A man was shot at close range. A man was killed and hanged.

Sexual Content:  A child witnessed her parents having sex. A woman’s breasts are fondled. A man rips the buttons off a woman’s jacket and throws himself on top of her. She feels a “strange hardness swell and press against her thigh”. Men draw numbers (lottery) to have “a turn” with a woman. Testicles are mentioned. Lalu is sold to a brothel for a higher price because she is a virgin. Kidnapped girls have to strip and are auctioned off to bidders for prostitution. Quote, “So long as the woman satisfies that muscle below their belt, they don’t care about anything else”. A young woman was forced to have sex with the man who “bought” her. (There is some detail given to this experience.) A man kisses a woman.

Adult Themes:  Lalu’s feet are bound. Parents at times have to consider killing their children when they don’t have enough food. A child died from small pox. There is drinking, smoking, drugs, chewing tobacco, gambling, kidnapping, saloons, slavery, and prostitution. Families battle famine and starvation. Lalu is sold for soybean seed to plant crops. A man sold his wife and children. A woman hung herself after being used by bandits. A man dies in a fall from a trail. There are guns and hunting. A woman considers killing the man who had enslaved her. Polly is the prize in a poker game. Chinamen can’t own land in America. Polly shares the same bed with a man without the benefit of marriage. A woman removes a bullet from a man’s neck. A fire occurs which destroys a home and the family pet. A man dies from an illness. A woman dies in her old age.

Synopsis

In this biographical novel, Lalu Nathoy begins her life in nineteenth-century China as the daughter of a farming family. When famine strikes, Lalu is sold to bandits who then sell her to a brothel. She is smuggled into America on a ship bound for San Francisco and auctioned off to a saloon owner where she is then given the name of Polly. With determination and perseverance she rises from degradation and despair to admiration and respect as a pioneer women in the Pacific Northwest.

I had a hard time with this story in the beginning. I was sickened by Lalu’s circumstances and the inhumane treatment of her and the other women who were auctioned, particularly since Lalu/Polly was a real woman. As the story progressed I began to feel hopeful and impressed with the way Polly took something so horrifying and made the best of it. Others gravitated toward her and her goodness. Also, Charlie was so good to her which made me happy to know she wasn’t alone! I believe her hard work ethic was attributed to her upbringing in China which in turn gave her success in handling such adversity. I would recommend this book for high school age and up. Even though the subject matter is difficult in the beginning, it really is worth discussing.