The Concubine's Children

The Concubine's Children:
Portrait of a Family Divided
First edition cover of Canadian release
Author	Denise Chong
Country	Canada
Subject	Family history
Genre	Non-fiction, book^[1]
Publisher	Penguin Books
Publication date	January 1, 1995
Media type	Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
Pages	304 pp.
ISBN	9780140254273

The Concubine's Children: Portrait of a Family Divided is a non-fiction book written by Chinese-Canadian writer Denise Chong, first published in January 1995 by Penguin Books.^[1] In the book, the author traces her family's history, giving a narrative account of members from both sides of the ocean. The Concubine's Children is Chong's first book, which she compiled from letters, photographs and memory. The award winning book has been called an "astonishing tale" written in "clear and unflinching prose".^[2]

Synopsis

The Concubine's Children documents the life of Denise Chong’s grandfather, Chan Sam; grandmother, May-ying; her mother, Hing (or Winnie, as she was known outside of Chinatown); her mother’s siblings, Ping, Nan, and Gok-leng; and half sibling, Yuen. Chan Sam had two wives, May-ying in Canada and Huangbo in China, dividing the family between Canada and China. Chong’s mother, Hing, only knew one of her siblings while growing up, Gok-leng.^[3] The Concubine’s Children documents the story of this family which spanned two continents, as well as the political, social, and cultural tensions in China and Canada, between 1848, when Chan Sam’s father, Chong’s great grandfather, first came to "Gold Mountain", the nickname by which Chinese people knew North America, and 1987 when Chong and Hing first met the "China family".^[3]

Chong was inspired to work on this family history–historical non-fiction novel after moving to Beijing in 1985, with her companion, and later husband, CTV correspondent Roger Smith.^[3]

While living in Peking, Denise Chong convinced her mother Hing/Winnie to join her on a three-week trip of China, which would take them to the village of Chang Gar Bin. Chang Gar Bin was Chan Sam’s (Hing/Winnie’s father and Denise Chong’s grandfather)'s hometown, and the place where Hing’s sisters, Ping and Nan, and half-brother Yueng, all of whom she had never met, had been raised.^[3] Before going to Chang Gar Bin, Denise contacted the Chinese foreign ministry in Canton, and discovered that two of her mother’s siblings were still alive and living in Char Gar Bing. Hing's sister Nan had died when Hing was still a child and she had been aware of this passing.^[3] The Concubine’s Children ends with a chapter describing this trip and the first meeting between then, 57-year-old Hing/Winnie and her siblings.^[3]

Media adaptations

Before being published as a novel, The Concubine’s Children appeared as an article in the magazine Saturday Night.^[3] Indeed, the editor of this magazine, John Fraser, was instrumental in encouraging Denise Chong to produce her book.^[3] Since then The Concubine’s Children has been converted into a stage play, by Chong herself. The play debuted in 2004 at TheatreOne in Nanaimo, BC, directed by Rick Scott.^[4]

Awards and honours

The Concubine’s Children has won several awards including: The "City of Vancouver Book Award" in 1994;^[5] The "Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction";^[2] and The "VanCity Book Prize".^[6] The book was on the bestseller list of The Globe and Mail for 93 weeks,^[6] and was shortlisted for the "Governor-General's Literary Non-Fiction Award".^[6] The Concubine’s Children has been translated into several languages.

References

1 2 Goodreads, The Concubine's Children, Book review, Retrieved 11/22/2012)
1 2 Faculty of Arts, 1995, Edna Staebler Award, Wilfrid Laurier University, Previous winners, Denise Chong, Retrieved 11/20/2012
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Chong, Denise. (page(s) ?)
↑ TheatreOne, Past Productions, Retrieved 11/20/2012
↑ BC Book World, Vancity Women's Book Prize, Denise Chong (winner), Retrieved 11/20/2012
1 2 3 Canadian Immigrant ORG, Immigrant stories by Canadian authors, Retrieved 11/20/2012

Bibliography

Chong, Denise. The Concubine’s Children: Portrait of a Family Divided. Toronto: Penguin Books. 304 pp. January 1, 1995. ISBN 9780140254273

External links

Asian Magazine, Interview with Author Denise Chong, Interview by Jacalyn Soo, Retrieved 11/20/2012

Recipients of the Edna Staebler Award and shortlist honours

Edna Staebler

1990s Winners	Winning writer, Winning title, (award year), ISBN Susan Mayse, Ginger, (1991), ISBN 9781550170184 – Marie Wadden, Nitassinan, (1992), ISBN 9781550540017 – Liza Potvin, White Lies (for my mother), (1993 co-winner), ISBN 9780920897133 – Elizabeth Hay, The Only Snow in Havana, (1993 co-winner), ISBN 9780920953808 – Linda Johns, Sharing a Robin's Life, (1994), ISBN 9781551090559 – Denise Chong, The Concubine's Children, (1995), ISBN 9780140254273 – George G. Blackburn, The Guns of Normandy, (1996), ISBN 9780771015038 – Anne Mullens, Timely Death, (1997), ISBN 9780394280844 – Charlotte Gray, Mrs. King, (1998), ISBN 9780670866748 – Michael Poole, Romancing Mary Jane, (1999), ISBN 9781550547498

1990s Shortlist nominees	Nominated writer, Nominated title, (nomination year), ISBN Phil Jenkins, Fields of Vision, (1992), ISBN 9780771044014 – Anne Kershaw and Mary Lasovich, Rock-a-bye Baby (1992), ISBN 9780195412680 – Sherrill MacLaren, Invisible Power, (1992), ISBN 9780770425265 – Marlene Webber, Street Kids, (1992), ISBN 9780802067050 – Rosalind MacPhee, Picasso's Woman, (1995), ISBN 9781568361383 – Jack Kuper, After the Smoke Cleared, (1995), ISBN 9780773728325 – Rita Moir, Survival Gear, (1995), ISBN 9780919591813 – Patricia Pitcher, Artists, Craftsmen and Technocrats, (1996), ISBN 9780773728585 – Tom Connors, Stompin' Tom, (1996), ISBN 9780670864874 – Frances Backhouse, Women of the Klondike, (1996), ISBN 9781770500174 – William Aide, Starting from Porcupine, (1997), ISBN 9780778010470 – Phil Jenkins, An Acre of Time (1997), ISBN 9781551990026 – Douglas Chambers, Stony Ground, (1997), ISBN 9780394281544 – Elisabeth Raab, And Peace Never Came, (1998), ISBN 9780889202924 – Lois Sweet, God In The Classroom, (1998), ISBN 9780771083198 – A.C. Lewis, Nahanni Remembered, (1998), ISBN 9781896300184 – Will Ferguson, I Was a Teenage Katima Victim, (1999), ISBN 9781550546521 – James Mahar and Rowena Mahar, Too Many to Mourn (1999), ISBN 9781551092409 – Joni Smith, Charlevoix County, (1999), ISBN 9780494516690

2000s Winners	Winning writer, Winning title, (award year), ISBN Wayson Choy, Paper Shadows, (2000), ISBN 9780312284152 – Taras Grescoe, Sacré Blues, (2001), ISBN 9781551990811 – Tom Allen, Rolling Home, (2002), ISBN 9780670884735 – Alison Watt, The Last Island, (2003), ISBN 9781550172966 – Andrea Curtis, Into the Blue, (2004), ISBN 9780679311355 – Anne Coleman, I'll Tell You a Secret, (2005), ISBN 9780771022784 – Francis Chalifour, After, (2006), ISBN 9780887767050 – Linden MacIntyre, Causeway, (2007), ISBN 9780002007245 – Bruce Serafin, Stardust, (2008), ISBN 9781554200337 – Russell Wangersky, Burning Down the House, (2009), ISBN 9780887623295

2000s Shortlist nominees	Nominated writer, Nominated title, (nomination year), ISBN Beth Powning, Shadow Child, (2000), ISBN 9780786707201 – Ellen Stafford, Always and After, (2000), ISBN 9780670886203 – Kevin Patterson, The Water In Between, (2000), ISBN 9780385498845 – Andrew Steinmetz, Wardlife, ISBN 9781550651218 – Howard Hewer, In For A Penny, In For A Pound, (2001), ISBN 9780385660778 – Mary Pratt, Mary Pratt, (2001), ISBN 9780864923165 – Trevor Herriot, River In A Dry Land, (2001), ISBN 9780773732711 – Nicholas Pashley, Notes on a Beermat, (2002), ISBN 9781554682560 – Gabriel Bauer, Waltzing the Tango, (2002), ISBN 9780199744480 – Ron Corbett, The Last Guide, (2002), ISBN 9781894673051 – Cornelia Johanna Baines, Under Syndenham Skies, (2002), ISBN 9781550416152 – Peter McSherry, Mean Streets, (2003), ISBN 9781550024029 – Adam Killick, Racing the White Silence, (2003), ISBN 9780141003733 – Dawn Rae Downton, Seldom, (2003), ISBN 9781559706650 – Ellen Bielawski, Rogue Diamonds, (2004), ISBN 9780295984193 – Kevin Bazzana, Wondrous Strange, (2004), ISBN 9780195182460 – Ralph Osborne, From Somewhere Else, (2004), ISBN 9781550225501 – Alex M. Hall, Discovering Eden, (2004), ISBN 9781552632215 – Tilda Shalof, A Nurse’s Story, (2005), ISBN 9780771080876 – Geoff Heinricks, A Fool and Forty Acres, (2005), ISBN 9780771040566 – Elizabeth Hudson, Snow Bodies, (2005), ISBN 9781896300740 – Michael Mitchell, The Molly Fire, (2005), ISBN 9781550226768 – Lisa Rochon, Up North, (2006), ISBN 9781552636909 – Rosalind B. Penfield, Dragonslippers, (2006), ISBN 9780802170200 – John Vaillant, The Golden Spruce, (2006), ISBN 9780393328646 – Kim Bolan, Loss of Faith, (2006), ISBN 9780771011306 – Marcello De Cintio, Poets & Pahlevans, (2007), ISBN 9780676977325 – Rachel Lebowitz, Hannus, (2007), ISBN 9781897141113 – Patrick Friesen, Interim Essays & Mediations, (2007), ISBN 9780973972702 – Nathan M. Greenfield, Baptism of Fire, (2008), ISBN 9780002007276 – Chantal Hébert, French Kiss, (2008), ISBN 9780676979077 – Jane Hall, The Red Wall, (2008), ISBN 9781897113684 – Martin Mitchinson, The Darien Gap, (2009), ISBN 9781550174212 – Cathy Ostlere, Lost, (2009), ISBN 9781554700431 – Andrew Westoll, The Riverbones, (2009), ISBN 9780771088759

2010s Winners	Winning writer, Winning title, (award year), ISBN John Leigh Walters, A Very Capable Life, (2010), ISBN 9781897425411 – Helen Waldstein Wilkes, Letters from the Lost, (2011), ISBN 9781897425534 – Joshua Knelman, Hot Art, (2012), ISBN 9781553658917 – Carol Shaben, Into the Abyss, (2013), ISBN 9780307360229

2010s Shortlist nominees	Nominated writer, Nominated title, (nomination year), ISBN Allan Casey, Lakeland, (2010), ISBN 9781553653080 – Else Poulsen, Smiling Bears, (2010), ISBN 9781553653875 – Benjamin Errett, Jew and Improved, (2011), ISBN 9781554684274 – Grant Lawrence, Adventures in Solitude, (2011), ISBN 9781550175141 – Robyn Michele Levy, Most of Me, (2012), ISBN 9781553656326 – Andrew Westoll, The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary, (2012), ISBN 9781554686490

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