[6] New York Times wine writer Eric Asimov wrote about it: “Call it Greek tragedy or Shakespearean drama, Biblical strife, Freudian acting out or even soap opera.

[10] In Fortune magazine, Nin-Hai Tseng wrote “The story of an island grappling to hold onto traditions in the face of burgeoning capitalist powers…Siler gives us a riveting and intimate look at the rise and tragic fall of Hawaii’s royal family.

The book focuses on San Francisco’s Occidental Mission Home, a “safe house” that opened in 1874 for enslaved and vulnerable Chinese women and girls.

The book also shines a light on Donaldina (Dolly) Cameron, who rescued more than 60 mostly Chinese girls, women and babies to a shelter in San Anselmo.

[13] Siler “vividly recounts a shocking episode from America’s past in this gripping history,” wrote Publishers Weekly.

Siler has written about her own journey to becoming a late-in-life competitive rower after undergoing brain surgery for National Geographic, about the survival of the banyan tree in Lahaina after the 2023 fire in The New York Times, and is a regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal's books section.

In 2025, Siler will be a visiting scholar at Oxford University as part of Next Horizons, a program of Harris Manchester College and the Rhodes House.