Welcome friend! I am thrilled to be on tour for Janie Chang’s The Porcelain Moon. This novel came out in February 2023 and I was intrigued by the Chinese perspective in France during the First World War. I am glad to have made time for it as it had so much to offer! Rich in story, characters and history, check out what it is about:
The Porcelain Moon
Janie Chang | Goodreads
France, 1918. In the final days of the First World War, a young Chinese woman, Pauline Deng, runs away from her uncle’s home in Paris to evade a marriage being arranged for her in Shanghai. To prevent the union, she needs the help of her cousin Theo, who is working as a translator for the Chinese Labour Corps in the French countryside. In the town of Noyelles-sur-Mer, Camille Roussel is planning her escape from an abusive marriage, and to end a love affair that can no longer continue. When Camille offers Pauline a room for her stay, the two women become friends. But it’s not long before Pauline uncovers a perilous secret that Camille has been hiding from her. As their dangerous situation escalates, the two women are forced to make a terrible decision that will bind them together for the rest of their lives.
Set against the little-known history of the 140,000 Chinese workers brought to Europe as non-combatant labor during WWI, The Porcelain Moon is a tale of forbidden love, identity and belonging, and what we are willing to risk for freedom.
Content notes include racial slurs, rape, domestic violence, depictions of horrors of war, death of loved ones, miscarriage.
The Porcelain Moon – Book Review
The Porcelain Moon is a thought-provoking book at so many levels. Apart from Lady Tan’s Circle of Women, I can’t think of another book in recent memory where my main characters were not American, Canadian, Indian or British. I also haven’t read a lot of war fiction set in World War I and I am glad to be expanding my knowledge and world through this book.
The Historical Context
I love reading author notes after the story and typically talk about them at the end of the book review but for The Porcelain Moon, this is the most important aspect I want to highlight right away. The note was particularly helpful in relation to the immigration policies of Britain and France towards the Chinese people who had supported them once the war was over.
It’s been years since I learned about the war in history class as a teenager and I do not recall if the Chinese were mentioned. Through this book, Janie Chang explores the lesser known contributions of the Chinese in the Great War. In her research, she questions why the Chinese themselves don’t talk much about it. I found her efforts and reading for this book fantastic. She was curious about so many things and she brought it all together so well.
Each of the Chinese characters touch on different experiences of being Chinese in the early 1900s. Louis was sent to establish a business in Paris, selling antiques. He brought his son, Theo, and his dead brother’s illegitimate daughter, Pauline, with him, leaving behind the rest of his family including his wife. Through Louis, the experiences of a middle-aged immigrant and his longing for his home country are beautifully portrayed. The challenges of being a foreigner, the stark differences between the upbringing of the cousins in China and then in France, amongst many other intricacies of life are poignantly presented in the story.
Theo’s eventual enlisting in the Chinese Labour Corps (CLC) and the history of the work the Chinese undertook during the Great War were eye-opening to me. The sentiments of the French towards the Chinese was also touched upon.
Apart from the history related to World War I, the book also touches on Chinese history like the end of the monarchy and establishment of the republic in 1912 and why China joined the war in 1917.
The Characters
The Porcelain Moon is told from two perspectives – Pauline and Camille. There are also a couple of chapters with letters written from Theo to Pauline.
Theo
Of all the characters, Theo is the most weighed down by familial expectations. He knows his deficiencies as well as the strict rules that his family follows. Growing up in France has been freeing for him and he is able to imagine a future where his destiny is not dictated by his family. He is well educated and had done all he can to postpone his arranged marriage in China and return home. On hearing about the CLC, he signs up and gets another few years reprieve. Janie Chang writes about the horrors of war with compassion. Through Theo’s letters to Pauline, she emphasizes the effect such work had on young minds and the conditions in which the CLC operated.
Pauline
Pauline is an orphan who never knew her parents. Her father was from a wealthy family. On his deathbed, he made his brother, Louis, promise him to take care of his daughter. In China, Pauline was treated like a servant. As an illegitimate child, she wasn’t part of the main family. When Louis’ father sent him to France to establish and manage a new business, he brought her with him. She became pivotal to running the antique store, specialising in general upkeep, inventory and accounting. Coming to France opens up her world. She is able to study like Theo and learn from Denise, Louis’ mistress. She dreads returning to China and when the message finally arrives that she must return as her marriage has been fixed, she decides to find Theo, going to the last place he wrote her from. At Noyelles-sur-Mer, she meets Camille.
I came to like Pauline. Her sense of feeling that her life is out of control propels her on a journey after which she is never the same.
Camille
Camille’s history is fascinating. She came from a wealthy French aristocratic family but in the 1906, with the fall of that economic class, her family downsized. I loved her relationship with her maternal grand mother and father. The events that lead her to marry Jean Paul are heartbreaking. In the present, she is a married woman, trying to save up enough money to run away from her abusive husband. Her fortitude is commendable and I enjoyed the way she cultivated joy in her tough life and worked towards independence. Her chapters were the most terrifying to me because I was constantly scared for her and afraid of Jean Paul’s fickle demeanour.
The Storytelling
Majority of the story takes place in November 1918. Most chapters have both Pauline and Camille’s perspectives from the day. There are some flashback chapters set in the early 1900s that give context to how the two women came to be in their respective situations in the present – Pauline, looking for Theo, and Camille, married to and preparing to escape Jean Paul. It was very important to pay attention to the dates and I wondered if the story could have been told chronologically, however, I do see the appeal in introducing the characters in the present and then revisiting their pasts. I was curious how the two women were connected and I feel like the past would not have felt as significant if I didn’t know of the present.
Pauline and Theo have had very sheltered upbringing, connecting with the Chinese community in France and the customers in the store. Being young, they made some naive mistakes throughout the story. They are like the children who want to be free without realizing the responsibilities. Thankfully, Pauline comes to understand this sooner than Theo does. There are a number of other characters in the book who influence their actions – Louis, Denise, Frances, the young woman who runs the hospital in Noyelles-sur-Mer, Jean Paul, Mah and Marcel who were involved in illegal activities. There is also Henri, Pauline and Theo’s friend who is a journalist and accompanies Pauline on her quest to find Theo.
I enjoyed the story and wanted to know how Pauline and Camille were going to grow and address the situations they were in. The full cast audiobook with Katharine Chin (Pauline), Saskia Maarleveld (Camille) and James Chen (Theo) helped me get to know the characters and their native languages better. I highly recommend the audio version for an immersive experience. I don’t think I would have been able to build the same emotional connection in text.
Themes for Thoughts in The Porcelain Moon
The Porcelain Moon explores identity, belonging, and the sacrifices made for freedom, on a personal as well as community level. Theo grapples with familial expectations and his desire to be himself and love who he loves. For Pauline, the years in Paris have led to much freedom and self-discovery and she wants more. She navigates the challenges of belonging and finding her place in a foreign land. Camille’s resilience in the face of abuse highlights the power of inner strength and determination to strive for better. Their stories are intricately woven together and explore human resilience in time of adversity.
The Porcelain Moon is a captivating narrative that taught me about lesser-known aspects of history while approaching them from a personal level through each of the characters. I am still thinking about it days later and am excited for other stories set in this time period.
Add this book to your Goodreads shelf if you are intrigued. Tell me in the comments if you have already read it.
About the Author: Janie Chang
Janie Chang is the author of three books previous to The Porcelain Moon: Three Souls, Dragon Springs Road, and The Library of Legends. Born in Taiwan, she has lived in the Philippines, Iran, Thailand, New Zealand, and Canada. She writes historical fiction, often drawing from family history and ancestral stories. She has a degree in computer science and is a graduate of the Writer’s Studio Program at Simon Fraser University. She recently released The Phoenix Crown with Kate Quinn.
I will definitely be exploring her backlist and new releases!
Many thanks to Random Things Tours for giving me a chance to highlight this book on my blog in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for reading my thoughts. 🙂
Check out other reviewers on the tour:
Thanks for the blog tour support x