First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday: China Dolls by Lisa See

First Chapter Tuesday is hosted every Tuesday by Diane over at Bibiophile by the Sea. Join the fun by making your own post and linking up over at Diane's blog, or simple check it out to find more new books to read!

This week I've chosen to feature China Dolls by Lisa See! I'm about three-quarters of the way through and have been really enjoying this book about three women set in 1940s San Francisco and the many struggles they face as Chinese American and Japanese American citizens. So far, I have found this entire book to be extremely difficult to put down and am really enjoying so far. 

China Dolls by Lisa See

Part One: The Sun

 October 1938–July 1940 

Grace

 A Measly Girl

"I traveled west—-alone—-on the cheapest bus routes I could find. Every mile took me farther from Plain City, Ohio, where I’d been a flyspeck on the wallpaper of small--town life. Each new state I passed through loosened another rope around my heart, my legs, my arms, yet my whole body ached and I couldn’t shake my vertigo. I lived on aspirin, crackers, and soda pop. I cried and cried and cried. On the eighth day, California. Many hours after crossing the boundary,I got off the bus and pulled my sweater a little more tightly around me. I expected sun and warmth, but on that October afternoon, fog hung over San Francisco, damp, and shockingly cold.

Picking up my suitcase, I left the bus station and started to walk. The receptionists at the cheap hotels I visited told me they were full. “Go to Chinatown,” they suggested. “You can get a room there.” I had no idea where Chinatown was, so that didn’t help me. And I’ll say this about San Francisco: lots of hills, water on practically every side, and, it seemed to me, not a single street ran purely in any one direction. Finally, a man at a fleabag took my money—adollar a day, in advance—and gave me a key to a room."

What do you think? Would you keep reading this? (And feel free to join in and make your own post!) 

If you're enticed by this chapter, be sure to check out the full synopsis on Goodreads!

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*Excerpt taken from the novel itself; I do not claim to own any part of the excerpt.