A work of historical fiction, Chasing Down the Moon is set in Eureka during the 1885 Chinese Expulsion. Author Carla Baku will speak about her experience transforming historical research into literary narrative.

The novel is described as “striking, haunting, beautiful ... It has all the ingredients I look for in an 'end of the world' book."

Baku’s story of a young Chinese woman Ya Zhen begins with her kidnapping. She is taken from her home in the Hunan mountains, sold to human traffickers, and purchased in San Francisco by a hotelier from a remote coastal city. In Eureka Ya Zhen is forced to serve as an indentured prostitute. “Her escape, aided by a small group of friends, is thwarted when a terrible accident precipitates the upheaval of the entire town & the clock starts ticking for everyone…”