La Pintora de Shangai = The Painter from Shanghai

This book fictionalizes the life of Chinese painter Pan Yuliang. She is orphaned at a young age and later sold into prostitution by her uncle. She becomes the brothel's top girl and soon snags the attention of customs inspector Pan Zanhua, who makes her his concubine. Zanhua sets her up in Shanghai, where she enrolls in the Shanghai Art Academy and early on struggles with life study.