Advertisement
Advertisement
Susan Blumberg-Kason

Gloria Chao’s latest novel tells the story of Chloe Wang, a student who hires a fake partner to divert her parents’ attention from her single status.

As one of just 22 foreign students in Shanghai in 1978 and early 1979, Anne E. McLaren witnessed the city’s nascent democracy movement, expressed through protest posters.

Macau saw a deluge of refugees reach its shores during World War II, increasing its population from less than 200,000 to 700,000. Among them were European Jewish refugees from fascism arriving from Shanghai.

Sophie Cairns wasn’t there for her father when he died suddenly. To deal with her grief the Hong Kong-raised journalist started climbing, and scaled the tallest volcanoes on seven continents for a cancer charity. She’s written an eloquent book about the quest.

Advertisement

The Lotus Eaters by Emily Clements tells the story of a young woman travelling in Southeast Asia who is confused about her future, her sexuality and her relationships, but comes to a better understanding of herself.

Taiwan’s ‘love boat’ heritage programme sent many Chinese-American teens to Taiwan to learn about where they or their parents came from. Abigail Hing Wen’s debut young adult novel, Loveboat, Taipei, follows one such teen on her journey.

Adam Minter travels the globe following used and donated goods to their final destinations. He looks at how attitudes to used products differ in Asia, the US, Europe and Africa.

George Takei – Sulu from Star Trek – recounts in stunning style his early years interned in a wartime camp for Japanese Americans, while Indian-American Mira Jacob vividly illustrates the contradictions of race in conversations with her son.

Author Xinran Xue spoke to four generations of women from the same family in China about sex, emotions and love. Her book shows how long it took women to gain a measure of control over their marriages.

Story of Shenzhen factory worker made pregnant by a Hong Kong businessman, her time as a birth tourist in the US and her attempt to make a life there is compelling and believable, if you discount its prince charming aspect.

Book about land-grab protest leader Zhuang Liehong’s defection to US with his wife, their claim for political asylum and how they found a ready support network in a New York Chinatown shows how immigration works