

Events in History at the Time the Novel Takes Place Ethnic heritage in the United States Chu, an active leader in New York’s Chinese American community, witnessed the development of Chinatown from an enclave of male survivors, separated from their wives and children by discriminatory laws, into a thriving family society.

with their new spouses, many Chinese Americans like Ben Loy in Eat a Bowl of Tea: A Novel of New York’s Chinatown found building a life in the postwar years a journey filled with both hope and bitterness.

Like many Chinese American veterans, he went back to China to seek a wife as a result of the War Brides Act of 1945. He went on to receive a master’s degree from New York University and to serve in the U.S. Louis Chu came to the United States from Toishan, China, as a young boy in 1924. Eat a Bowl of Tea: A Novel of New York’s ChinatownĪ novel set in New York City’s Chinatown in 1948 published in 1961.Ī newlywed becomes impotent, leading to events that challenge the traditions of his family and threaten their ultimate survival in a Chinese American community.Įvents in History at the Time the Novel Takes PlaceĮvents in History at the Time the Novel Was Written
