Onoto Watanna was born Winnifred Eaton in 1875 in Montreal. A prolific writer, she contributed magazine articles, cowrote a cookbook, and wrote screenplays and scenarios for Hollywood in addition to publishing popular novels like A Japanese Nightingale (later adapted for Broadway) and The Heart of Hyacinth. She died in 1954.

• Acknowledgments ixIntroduction by Linda Trinh Moser xiPART 1: SHORT FICTIONA Half Caste 3Two Converts 11Kirishima-san 19Margot 29Eyes That Saw Not 38 (Written with Bertrand W. Babcock)A Contract 50The Loves of Sakura Jiro and the Three Headed Maid 60Miss Lily and Miss Chrysanthemum: The Love Story of Two Japanese Girls in Chicago 67The Wrench of Chance 78Manoeuvres of O-Yasu-san: The Little Joke on Mrs. Tom and Mr. Middleton 97A Neighbor's Garden, My Own and a Dream One 109Delia Dissents: Her Diary Records the End of a Great Endeavor 122Elspeth 130PART 2: NONFICTIONThe Half Caste 149The Japanese Drama and the Actor 154The Marvelous Miniature Trees of Japan: These Curious Effects Are Only Attained after Generations of Patient Toil 161Every-day Life in Japan 165The Japanese in America 173Preface to Chinese-Japanese Cook Book 178 (written with Sara Bosse)

"Informative and reflective, thoughtful, and thought-provoking, "A Half Caste" and Other Writings opens new possibilities for reading and writing about Asian American literature and for (re)considering the discourse of orientalism and its role in the development of personal and literary strategies for self-expression, social critique, and survival."--Canadian Literature“What did it mean to be a ‘half caste’ in early twentieth-century North America? Winnifred Eaton lived that experience, and, as Onoto Watanna, she wrote about it. This collection of her short works--some newly discovered, others long awaited by scholars--ranges from breathless magazine romance to story melodrama and provides a riveting introduction to a unique literary personality.”--Diana Birchall, author of Onoto Watanna: The Story of Winnifred Eaton