ABOUT THE BOOK:
\n< strong>She came from a lineage known for good fortune... by those who don't know the whole story.
\nOregon\, 1888. Amid the subterranean labyrinth of the notorious Shanghai Tunnels\, a woman awakens in an underground cell\, drugged and disguised. Celia soon realizes she's a "shanghaied" victim on the verge of being shipped off as forced labor\, leaving behind those she loves most. Although well accustomed to adapting for survival&mdash\;being half-Chinese\, passing as white during an era f raught with anti-Chinese sentiment&mdash\;she fears that far more than her own fate hangs in the balance.
\nAs she pieces together the twistin g path that led to her abduction\, from serving as a maid for the family o f a dubious mayor to becoming entwined in the case of a gold miners' massa cre\, revelations emerge of a child left in peril. Desperate\, Celia must find a way to escape and return to a place where unearthed secrets could p rove deadlier than the dark recesses of Chinatown.
\nA captivating t ale of resilience and hope\, The Girls of Good Fortune explores the comple xity of family and identity\, the importance of stories that echo through generations\, and the power of strength found beneath the surface.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kristina McMorris is a N ew York Times\, Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of tw o novellas and eight historical novels\, including the million-copy bestse ller Sold on a Monday. Published by Sourcebooks Landmark\, Penguin Random House\, HarperCollins\, Harper Muse\, and Kensington Books\, her novels ha ve garnered more than two dozen prestigious awards and nominations\, most notably the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award\, RWA's RITA®\; Award\, and a G oodreads Choice Award for Best Historical Fiction.
\nAt age nine\, s he began creatively expressing herself when she embarked on a five-year st int as the host of an Emmy®\; and Ollie award-winning kids' television program. Being half Japanese\, Kristina jokes that she discovered a geneti c kinship with the camera early in life and continued to nurture that rela tionship by acting in many independent and major films while living in Los Angeles. Later\, as the owner of a wedding/event planning company\, she s erved as the six-year host of the WB's weekly program Weddings Portland St yle.
\nKristina's extensive experience in media and events led her t o becoming a professional emcee and contributing writer for Portland Bride &\; Groom magazine. Her previous writing background also includes ten years of directing public relations for an international conglomerate.
\nIn 2001\, deciding sleep was highly overrated\, she compiled hundreds of her grandmother's favorite recipes for a holiday gift that quickly evo lved into a self-published cookbook. With proceeds benefiting the Food Ban k\, Grandma Jean's Rainy Day Recipes sold at such stores as Borders and ap peared frequently in regional media. It was while gathering information fo r the book's biographical section when Kristina happened across the letter s her grandfather mailed to his "sweetheart" during his wartime naval serv ice&mdash\;a collection that years later inspired McMorris to pen her firs t novel\, a WWII love story titled Letters from Home.
\nSince her de but released in 2011\, in addition to her novellas in the anthologies A Wi nter Wonderland and Grand Central\, Kristina's published works have expand ed to include the novels Bridge of Scarlet Leaves\, The Pieces We Keep\, T he Edge of Lost\, Sold on a Monday\, The Ways We Hide\, the collaborative When We Had Wings\, and the forthcoming The Girls of Good Fortune (out May 2025). She also collaborated with her sister\, artist Amanda Yoshida\, on the picture book Ellie Mae Dreams Big! McMorris' books have been optioned for TV/film and translated into numerous languages\, as well as appeared in compilations by Readers Digest\, Doubleday\, the Literary Guild\, and m ore.
\nA frequent guest speaker and workshop presenter\, she holds a B.S. in International Marketing with a concentration in multiple language s from Pepperdine University. She splits her time between San Diego and Po rtland\, Oregon\, where she's the proud mom of two collegiate (going-on-fo rty) boys who continue to make her laugh daily.
\nABOUT THE PRESENTATION: There will be a forty-five minute moderated convers ation followed by a brief audience question and answer.
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