Dorothy Bryant

Mei-li Murrow, the illegitimate daughter of a Chinese prostitute and a white confidence man, is recreated as the medium "Madame Psyche" after she accidentally predicts the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Although she wins fame and fortune as a medium, Mei-li seeks a truer spirituality, and embarks on a pilgrimage that takes her to the death-soaked Europe of the First World War, to a utopian commune in the Santa Cruz Mountains in the 1920s, to Depression-era migrant work camps and cannery strikes, and finally to the Napa State Hospital, where she finds wisdom and peace among the outcasts of the asylum.

Miss Giardino is a rare testament to the inner life of a teacher, and to the possibility of growth and self-discovery at any age. As the novel begins, retired schoolteacher Anna Giardino is found unconscious in front of the high school where she once taught, in San Francisco's Mission District. She is unable to remember what has happened or who she is. Gradually, Anna begins to recover tender but painful memories of her Italian American, working-class childhood, of her escape through education, and of her years devoted to teaching. But Anna must acknowledge that she has arrived at the end of her career estranged - from herself, from her profession, and from the students she sought to enlighten. Only when she confronts the events surrounding her mysterious "accident" can Anna accept and affirm her life.