Book Review of
The Girls of Good Fortune

Lynn's Review

The Girls of Good Fortune by Kristina McMorris is a historical fiction book published in 2025.

The Girls of Good Fortune is set in 1888, Portland, Oregon. It is about Chinatown and the Shanghai Tunnels that ran beneath Portland’s waterfront area. 

I grew up about an hour west of Portland, so when I saw that this book was set in Portland, I knew that I wanted to read it. 

The author stated that she had lived in Oregon for years, but it wasn’t until a few years ago that she learned about the Shanghai Tunnels.

I had heard of them. However, I had never read a historical fiction book on them. And I doubt very many people outside of the Pacific Northwest have any idea about the Shanghai Tunnels and the history of the Chinese people in the Portland area. 

This book follows Celia, who is half-Chinese but passes as white. She is hiding her past to create a better life for herself because 1888 Portland was not a welcoming place for Chinese people. 

Kristiana McMorris did a great job describing Portland and what it was like in 1888. You can tell that she was familiar with her topic and setting. 

She not only includes the history of the Shanghai Tunnels in the book, but also a lot of other Chinese history in the area as well. 

If you enjoy books about lesser-known historical events, I think you will appreciate this one. 

I will give a few disclaimers, though. There is one part of the storyline that I feel was added to make it more modern-day. It didn’t seem to fit the overall story. 

This book also addresses tough topics because it is set during a challenging time period. There is racism, prostitution, alcoholism, opium, etc. There are tough topics, but they are historically accurate to the time period and place. Those things make the book more authentic, so I didn’t mind them. They fit the story and what it was like during that time.  

Kristina McMorris also packs a lot of history and historical events into this book. Almost too many. I felt that this could have been multiple books, each focusing on a different topic. 

Overall, I enjoyed The Girls of Good Fortune by Kristina McMorris and think fans of historical fiction will as well.