Mrs. Spring Fragrance was a popular short story

Short story

A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

 collection by Sui Sin Far, pen name of Chinese-British-Canadian-American writer Edith Maude Eaton

Edith Maude Eaton

Sui Sin Far was an author known for her writing about Chinese people in North America and the Chinese American experience...

. The work is notable for being "the earliest book of fiction published in the United States by an author of mixed Chinese and white descent." Although the stories in the collection were written in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, they were not compiled into a single book until 1912. The original publisher was A. C. McClurg and Company of Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

. A new scholarly edition of the book, based on the McClurg edition, was released October, 2011 by Broadview Press

Broadview Press

Broadview Press is an independent academic publisher that focuses on the humanities. Founded in 1985 by Don LePan, the company now employs over 25 people, has over 500 titles in print, and publishes approximately 50 titles each year...

.

The stories are divided into two halves, "Mrs. Spring Fragrance" for adults, and "Tales of Chinese Children" for children. Set in Seattle and San Francisco, they reflect the struggles and joys in the daily lives of Chinese

Han Chinese

Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...

 families in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

. Particularly poignant are the stories delineating the cultural conflicts of Eurasians

Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

The word Eurasian refers to people of mixed Asian and European ancestry. It was originally coined in 19th-century British India to refer to Anglo-Indians of mixed British and Indian descent....

and recent immigrants. In the ironically titled "In the Land of the Free", Eaton shows the suffering inflicted by discriminatory immigration laws.

Contents

• Mrs. Spring Fragrance
• The Inferior Woman
• The Wisdom of the New
• "Its Wavering Image"
• The Story of One White Woman Who Married A Chinese
• Her Chinese Husband
• The Americanizing of Pau Tsu
• In The Land Of The Free
• The Chinese Lily
• The Smuggling of Tie Co
• The God of Restoration
• The Prize China Baby
• Lin John
• Tian Shan's Kindred Spirit
• The Sing Song Woman

From Tales of Chinese Children:

• Children of Peace
• The Banishment of Ming and Mai
• The Story of a Little Chinese Seabird
• What About the Cat?
• The Dreams that Failed
• The Heart's Desire
• Misunderstood
• A Chinese Boy-Girl
• Pat and Pan