Helen Plum Library

San Fransisco, 1906. Two women hoping to change their fortunes, have their paths cross, when they are drawn into the orbit of Henry Thornton, whose collection of Chinese antiques include the legendary Phoenix Crown and whose patronage changes the women's lives. When Henry disappears, their lives are thrown into chaos. But when the crown surfaces five years later, the women are brought together in one last quest for justice

"Eighteen-year-old Shelley, born into a much-despised branch of the Zheng family in Yunnan Province and living in the shadow of his widowed father's grief, dreams of bigger things. Buoyed by an exuberant heart and his cousin Deng's tall tales about the United States, Shelley heads to San Francisco to claim his destiny, confident that any hurdles will be easily overcome by the awesome powers of the "Chinese groove," a belief in the unspoken bonds between...

"As the '70s draw to a close in San Francisco, things do not bode well for the city--or for ex-con PI Colleen Hayes, whose daughter Pam, in a tragic turn of events, has lost her baby. Pam leaves San Francisco, and Colleen, who moved there to reunite with her, starts to wonder what she's doing in the Bay Area. Meanwhile, a serial killer given the name "Night Candy" is targeting sex workers, both male and female. The situation doesn't improve when Colleen's...

"Amy Chua's debut novel, The Golden Gate, is a sweeping, evocative, and compelling historical thriller that paints a vibrant portrait of a California buffeted by the turbulent crosswinds of a world at war and a society about to undergo massive change. In Berkeley, California, in 1944, Homicide Detective Al Sullivan has just left the swanky Claremont Hotel after a drink in the bar when a presidential candidate is assassinated in one of the rooms upstairs....