Shanghai Girls

In December of that year, Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, and America is now at war. Sam and Vern try to enlist. Vern’s mental disabilities disqualify him, and Sam is classified as 4F because of his flat feet. During the next 15 months, the family adjusts to life during wartime, but this is nothing like the misery of Shanghai during the Japanese invasion. In the café one day, Pearl meets an old acquaintance. Mr. Howell is the father of her school friend Betsy. The family is American, and Howell works for the State Department. Pearl learns that Betsy never left Shanghai and is now in a Japanese detention camp.

Sometime later, May inherits the casting business from her employer and runs a thriving concern to supply the film industry with Chinese bit players. May, herself, continues to be in demand as an actress though she will never become famous like Anna May Wong. By now, Joy is old enough to attend school, but she is immediately rejected by the white school where her parents try to send her. Around the same time, the Chinese Exclusion Act is repealed by President Roosevelt, but local prejudice against Asians still continues.

The family has begun to prosper in a modest way when Pearl realizes she is pregnant. The entire family is excited that this time she might have a son. Pearl consults with a white doctor who says it is unlikely she will carry the baby to term because of her age and internal scarring. Nevertheless, everyone remains hopeful.

At this point, Sam proposes buying a house for his growing family. He and Pearl have saved enough to make this possible, but buying anything outside of Chinatown is difficult since prejudice remains. By the time Pearl is six months pregnant, she receives a letter from Betsy, who is still in China. With the war over, she is released from the internment camp and intends to rejoin her family in Washington, DC.

In the summer of 1949, Pearl is nearly ready to deliver her baby. When her water breaks, Pearl is taken to an American hospital by May and Vern. Sadly, her baby is a stillborn son. Pearl must undergo a hysterectomy, so there is no remaining chance of having another baby. While recovering in the hospital, she learns that Sam consulted with the doctors about Vern’s deteriorating physical condition. They report that he has tuberculosis of the bone, and his spine is disintegrating. The family refuses to put him in a hospital, so they care for him at home.

By August of that year, tragedy strikes again when China City suffers another major fire. As in the earlier fire, most of Old Man Louie’s enterprises are affected. The family decides to relocate their businesses to New Chinatown instead. In October, Pearl and Sam open Pearl’s Coffee Shop, and it does quite well with Americans who have developed a taste for Chinese cuisine. By this time, the Communists have taken over China, and North Korea has invaded the South. As a result, China is now regarded as an enemy, and Chinese Americans are viewed with suspicion. Betsy comes west to visit Pearl and declares that the old Shanghai is gone, never to return.

By November 1950, American paranoia about Communism intensifies. Business in the new coffee shop has slowed as white customers avoid the Chinese district. Around Christmas, the family receives an eviction notice, so it’s time to find their own house. Pearl locates a property in Chinatown and feels that everything will finally work out. Unfortunately, Yen-yen dies unexpectedly, and Old Man Louie is devastated.

The family has little time to mourn since they must move into their new house. Pearl now has the difficult job of caring for Vern as he deteriorates further. Even though she isn’t a Christian, Pearl starts praying to the Christian god. She does this “to bring peace of mind, to make sense of all the bad things in my life, and to believe that maybe all this suffering will be rewarded in Heaven” (248).