Plot

Mahlee, the Eurasian granddaughter of an avaricious Peking woman, is known to the Chinese as "devil feet" because her feet were never bound. Following her grandmother's death, Mahlee falls in love with Andrew Templeton, whose father runs the American mission, and she embraces Protestantism. Mahlee is introduced to Sir Philip Sackville and his daughter, Blanche, whom she discovers are her birth father and half-sister. Andrew falls in love with Blanche and shuns Mahlee because of her Chinese heritage. The dejected Mahlee collaborates with another Eurasian, Sam Wang, in bringing the Boxer Rebellion to Peking. During the Feast of the Red Lantern, Mahlee dresses as a celestial goddess and is paraded through the streets on a litter, blessing the Boxers and encouraging the people to join the rebellion. She then learns that the mission is in danger and warns the occupants, but Sir Philip will not take her with them as they escape. Mahlee has lost the trust of the Boxers, and Wang dies protecting her. After the rebels are defeated by the Western Allies, Mahlee drinks poison and dies.

Mahlee and Blanche Sackville are half-sisters, Blanche the daughter of an Englishman and his wife, Mahlee of the Englishman and his Chinese mistress. Mahlee rejects her people and attempts to find a life for herself among the Europeans. But she finds the color line impossible to pass and returns to lead her Chinese people in rebellion.—Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>