Ship of Fates
Ship of Fates
by Caitlin Chung
A Foreword INDIES Finalist
“This fresh, ethereal take on Gold Rush San Francisco and the Chinese-American experience had me mesmerized.”
—Beth Cato, author of Breath of Earth
In the gridlocked harbor of San Francisco’s Barbary Coast, a ship hung with red paper lanterns draws crowds eager to gamble and drink. Aboard this red-lit ship, the fates of two young women will be altered irrevocably—and tied forever to that of an ancient lighthouse keeper who longs to be free.
Set against the backdrop of Gold Rush–era San Francisco’s Chinese immigrant community, Ship of Fates is a coming-of-age fairy tale that stretches across generations.
Photo Credit: Keith Lynds
Caitlin Chung has lived in the Bay Area her whole life. She is a teacher, an expert eavesdropper, a fan of infomercials, and is known to be a supporter of superstitions. She has on many occasions been justly accused of being a Luddite. She lives in Oakland with her husband and their cat. This is her first book.
Praise for Ship of Fates
“Chung’s debut weaves together the past and present ably and creates a well-wrought and elegant story that will, hopefully, be followed by many more.”
—Nell Keep for Booklist
“Gorgeous prose twines mythology and history in Ship of Fates. This fresh, ethereal take on Gold Rush San Francisco and the Chinese-American experience had me mesmerized. I read the entire novella in one sitting.”
—Beth Cato, author of Breath of Earth
“With beautiful, tempered language, Ship of Fates weaves history and lore into a captivating, otherworldly tale.”
—Foreword Reviews
“Legend blends with family lore in this speculative Gold Rush-era tale set amidst the gambling dens and red lanterns of San Francisco’s Barbary Coast. Recovering the lost history of nineteenth-century Chinese immigrants, Caitlin Chung spins an uncommon fairy-tale fiction.”
—Mia Ayumi Malhotra, award-winning author of Isako Isako
“This gem of a novel is a dazzling, subversive fairy tale, one that both reveals and upends the myth of San Francisco’s Barbary Coast. Hints of Calvino and Winterson rise up out of Chung’s deft prose, but only as signs that point to a wholly unique voice.”
—Lewis Buzbee, author of The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop
“Ship of Fates is as much about myth as it is about myth-making—the myths that pull us across oceans and the stories we tell ourselves to justify the hurt passed down across generations.”
—Anca L. Szilagyi, author of Daughters of the Air
