Library Discussion Group Will Read Five Books Guest Scholars Will Give Presentations On Each Selection
Lalu’s father affectionately referred to his oldest daughter as his “thousand pieces of gold.”
But that didn’t stop him from selling 18-year-old Lalu when famine hit their northern Chinese village.
Lalu Nathoy was sent to a Shanghai brothel, then to San Francisco, where she was sold to a saloon-keeper in an Idaho mining camp.
“A Thousand Pieces of Gold” describes Lalu’s quest for dignity and the hard-won independence she eventually enjoyed as a pioneer in the Salmon River valley.
The book is one of five featured in the Coeur d’Alene Library’s new discussion group: “Tough Paradise: The Literature of Idaho and the Intermountain West.”
Library patrons frequently ask for discussion groups, said volunteer coordinator Pat Laam. This is their chance.
People sign up to read five books. Beginning Feb. 3, guest scholars will give presentations and lead talks on each of the books.
“Tough Paradise” is funded through a grant from the Idaho Humanities Council, the Wattis Dumke Foundation of Utah, and local sponsors.
The books explore how the Western landscape shapes lives. In “Sweet Promised Land,” a Basque sheep herder visits his homeland after spending 50 years on Nevada’s open range.
In “Refuge,” writer Terry Tempest Williams ponders the impact that atomic testing has had on her family - fifth-generation Mormons living in Utah. As her mother’s cancer progresses, the Great Salt Lake threatens to flood a wildlife refuge where Williams watches birds.
“Housekeeping” is the story of two orphans growing up in Idaho. “Honey in the Horn” is a Pulitzer-prize winning account of pioneers in southern Oregon.
Laam hopes the discussion group will attract a diverse array of readers, including youth. The program is open to people 15 and older.
Registration is limited to 25. For more information, visit the library or its website, www.dmi.net/cdalibrary.
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IF YOU GO
Book discussions
Tough Paradise: The Literature of Idaho and the Intermountain West Discussion dates:
Feb. 3 - “Sweet Promised Land”
Feb. 17 - “Honey in the Horn”
March 2 - “A Thousand Pieces of Gold”
March 16 - “Housekeeping”
March 30 - “Refuge”
All discussions take place at the library from 4-5 p.m.