The Jewel in the Lotus, by S. E. Brady, published by The Oriental Press in 1905, is a collection of short stories by Sara Edith Brady (1871-1945), an American living in Shanghai from 1896 until approximately 1907, with brief periods in Peking and Tientsin. Three of the six stories it contains are presented here.

The title story concerns the journey and trials of a humble Tibetan jade carver named Pa-o, and what his life and choices teach a local Buddhist monk about the meaning of life. Pa-o is returning to his mountain village from a wildly successful sales trip China, loaded down with silver and gifts - with only one purpose in mind - to marry his sweetheart T'ukmar. In his eagerness to claim her at last, he risks a winter crossing of the mountains, losing most of his treasure - and very nearly his life - in the process. He achieves his goal, however, and they happily settle down to a bare existence together. The monk, watching them, finally understands what a lifetime of study has not been able to teach him - that the jewel in the lotus - what makes life worth living - is love.

In "A Thing Apart," Brady presents a slice of expatriate life in Shanghai. A young woman named Elsie Everett lies dying in a hospital following a driving accident on Bubbling Well Road. Her lover, a young Englishman, grieves for a time, but then gets on with his life, discarding her as so much old baggage, while she never doubts that he is waiting faithfully for her. For quite some time, she has lived on the edge of polite society - good enough to be a lover, but not good enough to be a wife. A nun at the hospital discovers that it is her long lost sister, Elsie, under the bandages, and an emotional reunion takes place. The sister is faced with a series moral dilemmas, choosing loyalty to Elsie at great cost to herself.

Exploring themes central to Brady's own life, this bleak story exposes the often tragic consequences of double standards for men and women. It contrasts true character and integrity with social hypocrisy, and demonstrates the transcendent devotion and forgiveness possible between women - even when those women have chosen very different paths in life.

"The Reason Why," another glimpse into the expatriate scene, echoes some of these same themes. Mollie Heatherdale has run off with her lover, leaving an unhappy marriage behind, at the cost of both respectability and economic security. Her friends Sybil and Elisabeth discuss her choice - and then Sybil relates to Elisabeth her own experience and the reason why she decided NOT to run away when she had the chance. At the heart of this story is the vulnerability of women in a Victorian social system in which social status and economic security were determined primarily by women's relationships to men.

D. R. C.

Lui Sing and Other Stories, by D. R. C., published by Kelly & Walsh, Ltd. in 1907, is one of several collections of short stories by Donna Rita Cole (1863-1945). An American who traveled extensively and lived in Asia, including Shanghai, during the 1880's and 90's, she was back home near San Francisco when she set pen to paper. She eventually published six books, three of which were made up of short stories set in China, Japan and India.

"They Two," presented here, is set in Hong Kong and Macao. An American woman named Helen Arkwright leaves home, family and career, accepting a position as governess in a Chinese port city. Destiny holds something quite different for her, however, and she meets and marries a Chinese man of mixed parentage, cutting all ties with her former life. After fifteen years, her brother, a Christian missionary, seeks her out with the intent of trying to "save" her. To his great surprise, he is entirely won over by the happiness and harmony he finds, and writes home to their family with the tale. It is his letter which tells the reader the heart of the story.

True love prevailing over racial and cultural prejudice and prohibitions is unusual in expatriate literature. It is much more common (Cole's other writings included), to present interracial relationships in the form of affairs, and rarely between social and intellectual equals. Yet here Cole describes a creative and joyous blending of "Oriental and Occidental" traditions, as she terms them, and of the contentment and harmony which can result from genuinely open hearts and minds. While certainly an idealized tale, it is brave and hopeful for it's time.