Books Set in Asia and North America: China, Taiwan and the United States

Peach Blossom Spring, by Melissa Fu (2022)

 

This novel of China spans from 1938 to roughly 2000 and follows three generations of the Dao family.  This is a novel of survival and strength throughout many adversities.  The novel begins with Meilin, a young widow with a young son, Renshu.  Meilin’s husband, Xiaowen, had gone missing in the second Sino-Japanese War between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan as a part of World War II.  Longwei, Xiaowen’s older brother, returned and promised to take care of Meilin and Renshu.  Because of the War, Meilin must constantly be on the move to stay away from the fighting.  Her most precious treasure is a scroll with a long, painted narrative.  She takes out the scroll and reads the stories to her son.  Ultimately, Meilin and Renshu escape to Taiwan and are befriended by another young mother with young children.  There are references to the political disputes between mainland China and Taiwan ~ which adds to Meilin’s worries.

 

The next portion of the novel focuses on Renshu.  He is a good student and is offered a scholarship to study in the United States.  Once in the United States, he is told to “Americanize” his name, and becomes known as Henry Dao.  His struggle is that of an immigrant to the United States.  He falls in love and marries an American woman and together they raise a daughter, Lily.  The final portion of the novel focuses on Lily and her struggles as a mixed-race child.  She is curious about her Chinese culture, but her father pushes her away and is not supportive.

 

Although the author said that the book is fiction, I can help but believe that she drew a great deal of the incidents in the novel from her family background.

 

Read:  May 27, 2024

 

4 Stars

Books Set in Asia: Beijing, China

Kitchen Chinese, by Ann Mah (2010)

 

After aspiring writer Isabelle Lee lost her job as a fact-checker at a prestigious women’s magazine in New York, she decided to lick her wounds with a trip to China where her much older sister was living and working as an attorney.  Claire introduces Isabelle to Ed, who is the editor of Beijing NOW, a magazine aimed Expats.  Although her grasp of the language is limited to “kitchen Chinese”, Isabelle knows her Chinese food ~ it was what her emigrant mother prepared for her when she was growing up.  Isabelle lands a job as food writer for the magazine.  She soon learns, however, that live in China is quite different from live in New York.

 

Each chapter describes a different regional Chinese food.  The author’s descriptions of the dishes make one’s mouth water.  Recipes are found at the back of the book!

 

Read: July 30, 2023

4 Stars

Books Set in the Global Environment

Never, by Ken Follet (2011)

July 29, 2022

3 Stars

Books Set in Asia; China

The Moon in the Palace, by Weina Dai Randel (2016)

 

This novel takes place in China in the 7^th Century and follows palace intrigue in the court of Emperor Taisong.  The novel is the first in a series and follows young Mei as she enters the court.  As a naïve young girl, she must learn quickly who she can trust and who can help her achieve what she believes to be her destiny ~ to become a great leader.

 

I found the first part of the book to be interesting, but the novel took way too long before anything of any real important to happen.  I won’t be continuing in this series.

 

Read:  February 2022

 

2 Stars

 

Books Set in Asia: China, Shanghai

The Last Kings of Shanghai: The Rival Jewish Dynasties that Helped Create Modern China, by Jonathan Kaufman (2020)

 

This book is about the Sassoon family and the Kadoorie family, both from Baghdad, Iraq, who built tremendous business empires in Shanghai, China.  They arrived in Shanghai at a time when was becoming an international city.  Europeans were beginning their colonization of the city.

 

The Sassoons were a wealthy business family in Iraq, but due to political influences in the early 1880s moved their enterprise, first to India, and then to China.  They increased they wealth in the Opium Wars.  This book gave a clear explanation of the origins of the Opium War, and how the Western world help to feed and exploit the opium trade in China.

 

The Kadoorie family arrived in Shanghai a few decades after the Sassoons.  They built their empire from the ground up.  They opened up lavish hotels and began one of the largest electric companies in the country.

 

During World War II, the Kadoories build shelter and fed numerous Jews fleeing from Nazi Germany.  China was one of the very few countries open to Jews during this period.  The city also came under Japanese occupation during the War.  The families survived through this occupation and then sided with Chiang Kai-Shek as the Nationalist and Communist faced each other.  Ultimately, Communism won and the two families lost virtually everything.

 

It was an interesting slice of history.  I wish this book had been published a few years earlier and I could have read it prior to my visit to Shanghai.

 

Read:  September 17, 2020

 

3.5 Stars

Books Set in Australia and Asia; China

The Song of the Jade Lily, by Kirsty Manning (2019)

This historical novel jumps back and forth between the present (2016) and the late 1930s’ through the end of World War II.  In the present, Alexandra Laird has a high-powered job with a financial company in London and has sought a transfer to Shanghai.  The transfer request was for three reasons: to escape part escape from a bad break-up; to be closer to her grandparents who live in Australia; and to learn about her birth mother who had been born in Shanghai.  Alexandra’s parents were killed when she was very young had had been raised by her grandparents, Romy and Wilhem Cohen.  Alexandra’s mother was ostensibly adopted and was of Chinese ancestry.  She is curious about her mother’s origins, but her grandparents have been very secretive about her past.

In flashbacks, we meet Alexandra’s grandmother, Romy.  Twelve-year-old Romy and her parents, who were Jews, fled Vienna shortly after Kristallnacht and made their way to Shanghai.  China was one of the few countries in the 1930 that was accepting Jewish immigrants.  They were not, apparently, practicing Jews in China, but their religious affiliation was not a problem in China.

In Shanghai, Romy met Li Ho, a beautiful young girl who is Romy’s age and the two become fast friends.  Li Ho’s father was a doctor in Eastern medicine, which intrigued Romy.  She picked up some herbal treatment methods, which she employed throughout her life.

Initially, Shanghai was safe.  In the 1930s it was a major international city.  Late in World War II, however, Shanghai fell under Japanese control and the city became very dangerous.  There are parallels between the brutish treatment of the Nazi’s towards the Jews and the Japanese soldiers’ treatment of the Chinese.  Li’s parents were active in the resistance, which lead to a tragic result.  Li and her brother then had to take whatever steps necessary to survive.

The description so Shanghai bring the city to life with its sight and smells.  Unfortunately, the characters are lacking and are not fully developed.  Alexandra too quickly falls into a new relationship that doesn’t quite fit as described in the novel.

The novel was a very quick read, although it could have used a better editor.  There were several places where the author repeated herself.  The twist at the end, however, made the book a worthwhile read.

Read:  May 25, 2020

3 Stars

Books Set in Asia, Kharbin, Manchuria

The Winter Station, by Jody Shields (2018)

The Winter Station is based on an actual event of a deadly plague epidemic that occurred in Kharbin, Manchuria in 1910.

Kharbin was a railroad hub in Manchuria that was under the control of both Czarist Russia and the Chinese empire.  The citizens of Kharbin are both Russian and Chinese and there is also a “foreign” section of the city.  The novel follows the Baron, the chief Russian medical officer of the city.  The Baron is of Russian aristocracy with a Manchurian wife, something that would be frown upon had he been living in Western Russia.

Bodies begin to be found near the rail station, but then mysteriously disappear. The cause of death is unknown. Soon people begin to run high fevers, begin coughing blood and are dead within days.  The mortality rate of the disease was virtually 100%.

Doctors from Russia and Europe descend upon Kharbin to determine the cause of the epidemic.  Also on the scene is Dr. Wu Lien-Teh, a Malayan-born Chinese doctor.  (He is an actual historical figure.)  Medical examination of patients must be sensitive to both Western and Chinese medical techniques.

Because Dr. Wu was born in Malaysia, his mastery of Russian and Chinese is shaky. This creates some initial mistrust among the other doctors.  Dr. Wu received his medical degree at Oxford University, so his ideas were very radical to the Russian and Chinese doctors. His ultimate solution for handling the plague was a turning point preventing further spread of the disease.

Unfortunately, the novel does not provide more insight into Dr. Wu.  I researched Dr. Wu and the 1910 plague epidemic.  He was a significant figure in modern Chinese medicine.  The plague is believed to have killed between 50,000 and 60,000 during the winter of 1910.

Jody Shields wrote The Fig Eater, which I read in 2003.

Read: May 20, 2018

4 Stars

Books Set in Asia: China

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, by Lisa See (2017)

This novel follows Li-Yan, a young girl of the Akha people, one of the 55 ethnic minorities of China. The Akha people live in a remote part of southern China and make their living through the farming of tea.  The novel delves into the customs of the Akha people.

Li-Yan falls in love with San-pa, a young man from a neighboring community.  Her parents are not keen on San-pa, claiming that he is lazy and a bad match.  Li-Yan is studious and has an opportunity to become the first in her village to attend college.  San-pa ostensibly leaves the community to earn money so that he and Li-Yan can marry.

After he leaves, Li-Yan finds herself pregnant.  A baby out of marriage, however, is considered a "human reject" in the Akha tradition, and must be killed.  Li-Yan and her mother, however, buck this tradition and the baby is dropped off at an orphanage, along with a tea cake, in a neighboring city.

Later, when San-pa returns to marry Li-Yan, they return together to the orphanage to reclaim their child.  They learn, however, that the baby was adopted by an American couple.

The novel then follows Li-Yan and her yearning for her lost daughter.  Li-Yan ultimately becomes a successful tea merchant.  We also get snippets of the daughter's struggle living in California with white parents.

I enjoyed this novel and, having recently returned from an extended trip to China, was intrigued to read about much of the descriptions of China to be exactly as I experienced.  I gave this novel 4 stars because at a certain point the thread of the story became a bit too far-fetched.

Read:  December 10, 2017

4 Stars

Books set in Asia: China

Colors of the Mountain, by Da Chen (1999)

Colors of the Mountain is a memoir of a young boy who grew up during the Cultural Revolution in China. His parents and grandparents were landlords before Mao took over. They were considered in an elite class, so after the revolution they suddenly found themselves outcasts in a rural farming community. Da was a good student, but was bullied in school by the farming students in his class. He essentially dropped out of school for a few years, thinking there was not future for him in academics. After Mao died, educational opportunities opened up for all young students and Da realized he may have a chance to leave his commune and realize his potential as a scholar.

This book was on my mother's suggested reading list.  I wish I had a more extensive list of her favorite books.

Interesting book, especially since I just returned from an extended stay in China.

Read:  October 30, 2017

3 Stars

Books Set in Asia: China

The Valley of Amazement, by Amy Tan (2013)

3 Stars

Read April 20, 2016

Books Set in Asia: Shanghai, China

Shanghai Diary, by Ursula Bacon (2002)

This is the memoir of a young Jewish girl who fled with her family from Nazi Germany to Shanghai China during World War II.  Unfortunately, the book is not well written, although the story itself is an important part of Jewish history.

3 Stars.
Read: March 29, 2014

Books Set in Asia: China

Inheritance, by Lan Samantha Chang (2004)



Read: July 10, 2012