Thousand Pieces of Gold

McCunn’s novel is a biographical novel, meaning that the plot of the novel centers around Polly Bemis’s life. However, it is important to note that Thousand Pieces of Gold is a novel and not a biography, meaning that McCunn took certain creative liberties regarding Polly’s life and experiences. Following Polly’s induction into the Idaho Hall of Fame in 1996, many scholars are eager to “celebrate the known facts about her and allow the stereotypical, undocumented legends to die out” (Wegars, Priscilla. “Polly Bemis.” University of Idaho Asian American Comparative Collection). Scholars believe that several plot points in McCunn’s novel are incorrect. There appears to be little truth to the idea that Polly’s freedom was won in a poker game, and many scholars disagree that she was a sex worker and instead believe she was bought to work as a concubine, which was more common and less scandalous in Chinese culture at the time (Wegars). Additionally, there is little proof that Polly ever went by the name Lalu Nathoy or that her enslaver was named Hong King (Wegars).

McCunn admits that there was very little documentation of Polly’s life for her to write the novel; however, many of the claims she makes about Polly are sensational and take away from Polly’s true story of heroism and bravery on the Idaho frontier. Additionally, her decision to make Polly a sex worker despite there being no historical documents to back up the claim feeds into and promotes dangerous racist stereotypes that paint Asian women as submissive sex objects, taking away their agency and humanity.