Books like The pagoda by Patricia Powell
Lowe, a Chinese immigrant in his fifties, owns a modest shop in an impoverished plantation village in Jamaica. He writes to a long‑estranged daughter, recounting decades of exile from China, estrangement from family, and shipboard adventures. He tells of an unwanted pregnancy and a secret arrangement that kept a potential scandal at bay, and of living for thirty years with a light‑skinned black woman named Sylvie as his partner. Lowe's story is one of a vanished world, culminating in the burning of his shop. Amid these recollections he dreams of building a Pagoda—a school where Chinese workers could learn about their history and integrate into Jamaican life.
First publish date: 1998
Genre: General Fiction/General Fiction
Authors: Patricia Powell
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