The Distant Land of My Father - Bo Caldwell

I read this book after reading the other book reviews on Dooyoo and I have to admit that I was not disappointed. I raced through this at breakneck speed and just couldn't put it down without really begrudging it. This book is a real rollercoaster ride for the emotions and parts of it are very sad. I could feel a lump in my throat. The story is about a family, memories of what was and what might have been and even what was 'mis-remembered'. There is reconciliation, forgiveness of a sort and most of all love. The yearning and longing to be back home in the place where the family belongs runs right through this story and at times the emotion is ...  Read the complete review

The distant land that Bo Caldwell talks of in this book is Shanghai. The book is written through the eyes of Anna Schoene. She lives in Shanghai with her American mother and father who are ex-pats in the country although her father was actually born in China but partly brought up in the States. We meet her when she is just a girl and is quite naive to the ways of the world, but clever and can work out when something is not right or in place or needs special attention. The book is firstly set in the 1930's but takes us through to the 40's and 50's and to me is a really interesting time in history for this part of the world. At first everything is great for ...  Read the complete review