Trying to find a book for a patron

The patron said she read the book several years ago, but she doesn't remember how long. Here is what she remembers: it is set in California. There is a character who lives with the family on their land where they grow trees(?). The character is from Asia, maybe China and lives as a man, but at the end of the novel, it is revealed that he is actually a woman. And my patron thinks the author is a woman with a three part name (like Barbara Taylor Bradford). Any ideas? Thanks so much! Elizabeth Campion Shelby Township Library -- *The library is not, as some would have it, a place for the retiring of disposition or faint of heart. It is not an ivory tower or a quiet room in a sanitarium facing away from the afternoon sun. It is, rather, a command center, a power base. A board room, a war room. An Oval Office for all who preside over their own destinies. One does not retreat from the world here; one prepares to join it at an advantage.” ― Eric Burns, The Joy of Books: Confessions of a Lifelong Reader*
participants (1)
-
Elizabeth Campion