About
From the award-winning movie comes a story of courage and forbidden love. It's 1882 in southern China. Li Jun, a feisty homeless girl disguised as a boy called Little Tiger, works in a fireworks factory and yearns to sail across the ocean to the mysterious Gold Mountain in faraway British Columbia to find her long-lost father and fulfill her promise to her dying mother. She joins thousands of Chinese men blasting a path for the new railway through the 'impassable' Rocky Mountains. There she faces danger, deceit, and prejudice at every turn. Then, defying all the rules, she falls in love with James, the son of the railway tycoon. Should she reveal her true identity to him? Coming from such different worlds, could they make a life together?
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Reviews
"Action and romance-what more do you want? Iron Road rivals The Pianist in significance...both stories give a face to those nameless and voiceless who perished."
Toronto Star
"The novel's strength lies in its depiction of the miserable working conditions endured by the Chinese workers who built Canada's railways in the 1880s. As well, through the eyes of a young woman, readers see the discrimination against Chinese people in Canada and the circumscribed roles for women at that time ... [a] worthy addition to schools and public libraries."
Canadian Materials
"Li Jun epitomizes the feminist dream of equality. An important novel, essential reading for anyone interested in the early history of Canada."
The Honourable Dr. Vivienne Poy, Canada's first Chinese-Canadian senator