“But where were the mission ladies when I was a girl?” She twisted Dolly’s skirt as if she were holding onto a life preserver. “I was kidnapped from my family and sold to the powerful tong.” Ah-Peen Oie’s tears turned her makeup to dark rivulets running down her cheeks. “Where were you when they forced opium onto me until I would do anything for another dose? Including working with them to find more girls?”
I've spoken to book clubs across the country, and every single club has asked about Ah-Peen Oie. "Was she a real person?" Yes! Her story of redemption is also true, and although I couldn't include much of her story that followed the rebuilding of the mission home, Ah-Peen Oie completely turned her life around and worked hard to repay all of her debts where she could. She changed her name to "Amy" after the mission staff woman who was her private teacher during the time Ah-Peen Oie wasn't allowed at the mission home.
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