Book Review: Fires of Injustice by Kendy Pearson

Thank you to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book!

This story is about Yakira Mitchell, a young woman devoted to creating a home for discriminated Chinese American women at a low point in their lives.  It takes place during a time when Chinese essentially had no rights; 1880’s post-Civil War. Massive numbers of white Americans hated them and were barbaric towards them. 

The story is about not only the political environment and culture of the period but also the perseverance of courageous others fighting this hatred.  Yakira and her close inner circle fought to try to overcome the obstacles in society.  It also reflects the Chinese’s deep faith.

 Americans brought Chinese over to this land with them leaving everything they knew and loved behind to serve the needs of this country and for opportunities. They did menial tasks at low wages no one else wanted to do.  Once some of the significant jobs were complete, e.g. railroads built, white Americans turned on them. 

 Intermixed is a love story between the main character Yakira and her cousin, Attorney Grant Campbell.  The two had a complicated history that was set against the backdrop of the Chinese Exclusion Era. 

I was interested in this book from page one.  I was not familiar with this period in history and was only minimally aware of it. I’m impressed that the author tackled this difficult subject matter.  The realities of writing and researching this had to be emotionally draining.  The story clearly shows the hours this author put into it and it is commendable. Far too often authors make so many generalizations in their historical fiction novels the reader isn’t sure what to believe or not to believe.  Pieces can be missing.  In this book, there are no missing pieces.

 Though the main characters were fictional, they very easily could have been real. The history in the book is accurate and documented.  To learn of the atrocities of massive numbers of people hating on others simply because of their race is a pattern we see far too often playing out in America, supposedly a land of inclusion and not exclusion. The story is very compelling and written from the perspective of characters hellbent on working for positive change.  It reflects the resilience of Chinese Americans. 

 I loved how the author was able to effectively portray the feelings and emotions of the central characters. Even some of the peripheral roles in the book were excellently profiled.  Characterization is definitely one of the author’s strong suits. 

The pacing towards the latter part of the book could have been faster.  Though this may have been intentional as it reflects the accuracy of the times.  Trying to change racist mindsets is a drawn-out process of trying to assimilate and institute change. The author captured the culture of the period, even with the dialogue. It added to the authenticity of the story.

I highly recommend this book.  Learning of this period and then realizing how it is playing out now, we can firsthand see the effects on the people we are hurting. Turning away from important moments in history and stories that must be told sets us up for repeating the mistakes of the past.