On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family

The Los Angeles Times Book Review says this is "As engagingly readable as any novel." From the publisher: "In 1867, Lisa See's great-great-grandfather arrived in America, where he prescribed herbal remedies to immigrant laborers who were treated little better than slaves. His son Fong See later built a mercantile empire and married a Caucasian woman, in spite of laws prohibiting interracial marriage. Lisa herself grew up playing in her family's antiques store in Los Angeles's Chinatown, listening to stories of missionaries and prostitutes, movie stars and Chinese baseball teams."