The Girls of Good Fortune
  • Published: 29 July 2025
  • ISBN: 9781728284873
  • Imprint: Sourcebooks Landmark
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 400
  • RRP: $29.99

The Girls of Good Fortune

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From New York Times bestselling author of Sold on a Monday and The Ways We Hide comes a story of one woman's journey through Portland's Chinatown and its infamous Shanghai tunnels, giving voice to those in the shadows in a spellbinding story of a young half-Chinese mother and her determination to forge a future for her daughter in a world that shuns outsiders.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Sold on a Monday and The Ways We Hide

She came from a lineage known for good fortune…by those who don't know the whole story.

Portland, 1888. Amid the subterranean labyrinth of the notorious Shanghai Tunnels, a woman awakens in an underground cell, drugged and disguised. Celia soon realizes she's a "shanghaied" victim on the verge of being shipped off as forced labor, leaving behind those she loves most. Although well accustomed to adapting for survival—being half-Chinese, passing as white during an era fraught with anti-Chinese sentiment—she fears that far more than her own fate lay at stake.

As she pieces together the twisting path that led to her abduction, from serving as a maid for the family of a dubious mayor to becoming entwined in the case of a goldminers' massacre, revelations emerge of a child left in peril. Desperate, Celia must find a way to escape and return to a place where unearthed secrets can prove even more deadly than the dark recesses of Chinatown.

A captivating tale of resilience and hope, The Girls of Good Fortune explores the complexity of family and identity, the importance of stories that echo through generations, and the power of strength found beneath the surface.
  • Published: 29 July 2025
  • ISBN: 9781728284873
  • Imprint: Sourcebooks Landmark
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 400
  • RRP: $29.99
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About the author

Kristina McMorris

Kristina McMorris is a New York Times bestselling author of two novellas and six novels, including the runaway bestseller Sold on a Monday. Initially inspired by her grandparents’ WWII courtship letters, her works of fiction have garnered more than twenty national literary awards. Prior to her writing career, she owned a wedding-and-event planning company until she had far surpassed her limit of YMCA and chicken dances. She also worked as a weekly TV-show host for Warner Bros. and an ABC affiliate, beginning at age nine with an Emmy Award-winning program. A graduate of Pepperdine University, she lives near Portland, Oregon, where (ironically) she’s entirely deficient of a green thumb and doesn’t own a single umbrella.

Also by Kristina McMorris

Ellie Mae Dreams Big!
The Season of Second Chances
Ways We Hide
Sold on a Monday
The Pieces We Keep
Letters from Home
Bridge of Scarlet Leaves
See all

Praise for The Girls of Good Fortune

In this page-turning, propulsive read, McMorris shines a light on a forgotten corner of America, where immigrants faced withering odds, as well as on one woman’s fight to rise above the fray. A gripping tale of family, identity, and redemption that I simply couldn’t put down. One of McMorris’s best yet.

Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Stolen Queen

Novels like this are why I read historical fiction. The Girls of Good Fortune reveals a little-known corner of history through a thoughtfully crafted, intimate, and deeply felt tale. Laying bare the impact of an anti-Asian massacre on a young woman’s life, Kristina McMorris once again kept me up all hours reading to learn how her heroine would find justice…and love.

Janie Chang, Globe & Mail bestselling author of The Phoenix Crown

Kristina McMorris is a master in the art of storytelling, weaving a heart-pounding adventure of freedom and survival. With Chinese culture, the questions of fate, and a child’s life at stake, the power of women helping each other and the bond of love come alive in this extraordinary novel. From hidden identities to the search for belonging, this fast-paced novel takes readers through the saloons, brothels, and Shanghai tunnels of Portland’s forgotten past. With vivid characters and a history long buried now unearthed, The Girls of Good Fortune brings legend to life. A must read you don’t want to miss

Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Book of Flora Lea
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