Daughter of China: A True Story of Love and Betrayal

by Larry Engelmann and Meihong Xu

Book Overview

The critically acclaimed memoir of a forbidden love affair in communist China "An important work."-San Francisco Chronicle "Riveting."-Kirkus Reviews "This memoir is a must-read."-San Jose Mercury... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471356735
• ISBN13: 9780471356738
• Release Date: September 1999
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Length: 349 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

A book I will always remember

China, 1963: in the small village of Lishi, Meihong Xu is born. It is a difficult birth, and even in her adult life she carries the impressions of her grandmother's fingers on her forehead. Confined to a small, unheated room years later, Meihong remembers Lishi. In this, her beautiful memior, Meihong tells the story of her life, and through her life she tells the story of China. Through the flowing narrative stories are scattered. They are the stories of how her grandmother lost a daughter; of how her mother's sister came to be known as the Red Aunt; of how Meihong first fell in love. It is a book that encompases every aspect of life anywhere on the planet. Sweet, sad, sometimes comical; always knowing that things could have been different, yet never full of regret--- This is the story of the Daughter of China, and it is beautiful.

Wondrous

As an author of six books, I must confess that what I find most wondrous here is the writing itself. "Daughter of China" is a fascinating story, no question. But of all the many fascinating stories, few ever make their way into print, and fewer still are told with such draw-you-in narration. Through the eyes of a young Chinese woman named Meihong Xu, professor Larry Engelmann must have used not only his imagination but his whole soul to recreate her world, her chemistry. A stunning read. Bravo.

Written well and helpful

This book is really great for people who are interested in political situations in China in recent years. But I wonder if Meihong was truthful completely or not in telling her stories. I just compared Meihong with the author of Wild Swans Yung Chang. In Wild Swans I was fascinated by Yung Changs parents and didn't even have slightest doubt about her integrity. I was very happy to know that there were some people like them during the most difficult time of China in modern history. In Meihong's book, I was very dissappointed by her calculative mind and betrayal of her late husband. This is very well written (probably by Larry) captivating book but left me wondering about Meihongs motives.

Daughter of China Scores Big in America

Meihong Xu and the other young girls of China in the 1970's felt they could do anything. They were idealistic with romantic notions of their country China. It was the perfect country. They knew that all around the world young people longed to have the same kind of life they had. But over the years, Meihong's dreams would fall apart and a kind of cynicism rare in the very young would set in. How could this happen? How could idealistic ardor turn into gloomy pessimism in the course of a few years?Meihong was admitted into a very select group of young women, the first women cadets in the People's Liberation Army called the Pandas, because they were considered China's treasures. They were to be trained to conduct espionage against China's many enemies, to be spies. Every part of their lives was regulated: the food they ate, the books they read, the movies they saw, the words which they spoke, the clothes they wore, their private and public lives. Every thing. She was trained to lie, because appearance was more important than reality, but slowly her idols began to fall, beginning at the end of her first year at the Institute. After graduation, when Meihong worked as an aide for a general, who wanted social and political change in China, she was sent to the Center for Chinese and American Studies in Nanjing. It was here she met her first Americans, and it was here she fell in love with one.Meihong's story is a fascinating picture of a China never seen by Americans, one which examines the duplicity and daily betrayal with which the Chinese people must lead their lives in order to survive. Where being a good citizen does not depend on behavior, but on perception, and where success can always come to a sudden end because of jealousy or envy. Where disingenuousness and deviousness are the names of the game, and he who plays it best may win. But then he may not.Daughter of China is a page-turner which reads like a suspense novel. Excellent beginning for a first-time author.Mari Lu Robbins

Life's roller coaster

I know the author of this book and have read his earlier books. I have always loved the way he tells a story and he is at his best in this one. He writes about the life of a Chinese woman he met in 1988 and goes into her family background for several generations. And he keeps himself out of the main picture until near the end of the story. Because I know the story in real life I am affected very much by what is revealed here. I love the story and I love the writing. I think anyone who grew up in Asia and who knows what life is like under a Communist government will see the truth in every word of this book. It is about difficult situations bringing out the best in people. My only wish is that it could be longer and have the real hero of the story talk more about himself and what made him do the things he did. But he chose not to write it that way. This is a book that makes you feel very good to be alive and to be able to be in love. I just wish it had a happy ending. I disagree with the author. The ending is not happy, despite his insisting that it is. It is not happy. But it is never to be forgotten.