Items related to Daughter of China: A True Story of Love and Betrayal
When they met, Xu Meihong was 26, a Chinese army officer, spy, and shining example of her country's best and brightest. Larry Engelmann, 47, was a rumpled history professor from California visiting China (just 10 months before the massacre at Tiananmen Square) as part of an academic exchange program. A true innocent abroad, he immediately began taking hundreds of pictures, showed his students "subversive" American films, and generally behaved as if he were in a free country.The Chinese viewed the oblivious professor with tremendous suspicion, and assigned one of their top officers, Xu Meihong, to spy on the suspected CIA agent. The spy fell in love with the professor, however, and thus began a love story that should have ended in tragedy. When their friendship was discovered, Meihong was arrested, beaten and interrogated for weeks that added up to months. Engelmann was accused of raping Xu Meihong, shown her written accusation (forged by her interrogators), and told to leave the country or face immediate arrest.
This is the story of an impossible love affair, and also a rare and dramatic depiction of life inside the rigid walls of Communist China. Daughter of China reveals the remarkable story of Xu Meihong's inculcation into the Chinese Communist system and her ultimate escape. It traces in fascinating detail her development from patriotic child--willing to betray friend or family member to prove her loyalty to the Republic--to her commissioning as an officer for the People's Republic Army, and the even more extraordinary friendship that managed to erode her seemingly unshakable confidence in that way of life. Unique in its scope and unforgettable in its candor, Daughter of China is a suspenseful true account of love and betrayal that reads like the best fiction.
This is the story of an impossible love affair, and also a rare and dramatic depiction of life inside the rigid walls of Communist China. Daughter of China reveals the remarkable story of Xu Meihong's inculcation into the Chinese Communist system and her ultimate escape. It traces in fascinating detail her development from patriotic child--willing to betray friend or family member to prove her loyalty to the Republic--to her commissioning as an officer for the People's Republic Army, and the even more extraordinary friendship that managed to erode her seemingly unshakable confidence in that way of life. Unique in its scope and unforgettable in its candor, Daughter of China is a suspenseful true account of love and betrayal that reads like the best fiction.
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Review:
'Closer to Jung Chang's groundbreaking Wild Swans than many other memoirs, Daughter of China adds to the small number of Chinese memoirs that are really worth reading.' (Literary Review )
'I love this book ... Here is a story that should be sung as well as read. I will never forget it.' (Yan Geling )
'From the first riveting, provocative pages, Daughter of China held me spellbound ... A must-read for anyone with even a passing curiosity about the inner workings of Communist China.' (Aimee Liu )
'If Meihong Xu's story weren't true, a Hollywood scriptwriter would have invented it.' (The Times )
From the Back Cover:
'I love this book ... Here is a story that should be sung as well as read. I will never forget it.' (Yan Geling )
'From the first riveting, provocative pages, Daughter of China held me spellbound ... A must-read for anyone with even a passing curiosity about the inner workings of Communist China.' (Aimee Liu )
'If Meihong Xu's story weren't true, a Hollywood scriptwriter would have invented it.' (The Times )
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 News
Now in paperback, here is the stunning true tale of a remarkable woman trained as an elite soldier in the Chinese army, her forbidden love for an American, and her seemingly impossible escape with his help from the nation to which she had pledged her life. An astonishing testament to the enduring resilience of love and the human spirit in the face of even the most oppressive, hopeless conditions, Daughter of China offers a compelling look at life inside the rigid walls of Communist China, revealing in fascinating detail Meihong Xu’s inculcation into the system a process so effective that she would willingly betray a friend or family member to prove her loyalty. Written with clear–eyed candor and stark eloquence, Daughter of China is at once a timeless, deeply moving story of a prohibited love affair and a dramatic depiction of life under Chinese Communism.
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- PublisherAnchor Books
- Publication date1999
- ISBN 10 0385489897
- ISBN 13 9780385489898
- BindingHardcover
- Number of pages320
- Rating
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