Thank you so much! When my mom told me the story about my great-grandma carving soap to forge their travel papers, I was very sad for her, because the version of her that I met had always been so sad. At the end of her life, she had been very bitter about being left behind in China (understandably), and did face domestic abuse upon returning to Taiwan. My mom grew up watching her grandma kneel in the kitchen, even in Taiwan. Nai Nai’s punishments were real, and it was also real that my great-grandma continued to kneel until the day her only son graduated from college. It was only then that she felt like she had earned the right to stand tall, which I also thought was awful considering that my grandma was ALWAYS giving her mom money with the hope that it would help her have a better life. Somehow, the daughters’ contributions did not count.
My mom actually only has brothers, and I only have a brother, so neither of us have sisters! But we did both still deal with male favoritism in different ways, especially among extended family. My mom said that growing up, she did not receive toys from her grandfather because the rule was that only boy children got toys. Her grandma used to bring her grapes.
We have been very influenced by what happened to my great-grandma, which is why my mom had always emphasized the importance of having your own money, a way to earn money, or control of some money so you can leave if you need to. This is reflected in the book too, when they pay for Lan’s medicine. My great-grandmother suffered greatly and I always wish that she had taken her strength and devoted it to something else. I think she could have taken care of herself and her daughters, but perhaps she thought that it was best for her daughters to reunite with the family. Much of Hai and Di’s discussion on this are my own thoughts trying to figure out what she might have been thinking.
Di was the most challenging character for me to write! She is estranged from the rest of the family and I only remember meeting the woman who I based Di off once. From what I was told, my grandma resented her sister for hoarding food, but when writing Di’s character I wanted to make her more balanced–especially with sisters close in age, I thought perhaps there are two sides to these types of fights, so I tried to imagine what it might be like for Di as the younger sister in this situation. My grandma was always very filial and obedient to her parents, and so I put more of the rebelliousness against gender norms in Di.
As for the real person who Di is loosely based on, her son actually read my book! He wrote to my mom (his cousin) and said that it took him longer to finish it because he had to stop and cry while reading it, because his own mother never told him about the journey and what they went through. He wishes that I had had a chance to interview his mom while I was writing a book–my mom actually did interview her, but only for about an hour as their relationship is also not very close. From her, we got the details about the 8 day train ride, when they had to crouch on the floor and they were so scared of missing the train that they didn’t dare get off of it and passed their canteens out the window for people to fill.
My grandma’s other siblings are all doing well, still alive and healthy. She was close to her other two sisters (the ones who Lan and Hua were based on), as well as to her brother, so we’ve kept in touch with them. Unfortunately, my grandma had health problems throughout her life because of the time she starved in China. She passed away ten years ago. My mom says that my grandma suffered more because she saved food for her mom and youngest sister, and ended up with organ damage that she never recovered from.
Wow, how sad! I wondered if your grandmother was resentful of some of those around her, including Di. I enjoyed how you wrote Di, though; she felt very real to me (as did your grandmother & great-grandmother) and I’m glad you brought a little balance to the character.
How about the various scenes - were there any scenes that brought you joy to write? It sounds like Di’s character was a challenge, but were there other scenes that were hard for you as well?
Have you read Gish Jen’s Bad Bad Girl? Some of what you’re saying there is echoed in that book.
It seems as if your mother had more awareness of the male favoritism in the family, and did her best to counteract it with her own children. Was she supportive of your career as a human rights lawyer?
In the Author’s Note for Daughters of Shandong, you spoke about writing much of the book on your phone at odd times. How long did it take you from the time you started until the time the book was finished?
When did you realize you had a finished book, and how did you go about getting it in the hands of a publisher? Was it accepted quickly, did you use an agent, etc.?
I have not read that yet! I’ll have to add it to my list. I think each generation of women in my family becomes a bit more aware of the male favoritism, and chooses not to continue certain traditions. My mom, like many immigrant parents, really wanted me to be a doctor! Specifically, a surgeon. I was pre-med for some time, and ultimately decided to go to law school instead of medical school, and then she wanted me to be a corporate lawyer! She grew up under authoritarian rule in Taiwan and has been very cautious of human rights work and worries that it is dangerous (and it can be in many contexts), but now she is very happy with my career choice (I think!).
There are many books that I’ve loved recently that I’m happy to share!
In terms of debut books, I loved Shubnam Khan’s THE DJINN WAITS 100 YEARS, which is a mystery, love story, and ghost story blended together and so beautifully written.
I recently read Elif Shafak’s THERE ARE RIVERS IN THE SKY, and thought it was a work of genius, and loved how she tied together three stories with water as the theme. I loved that book so much that I went to read her other book, THE ISLAND OF THE MISSING TREES, which is a love story between a Greek man and a Turkish woman in Cyprus.
Another book I loved was THE WEDDING PEOPLE. There’s a lot of dark humor in that one, and a twist that I didn’t see coming (this might not actually be a twist–I am very easily surprised in books and maybe this is something others might have predicted but I actually gasped out loud when I was reading it in the book). This is a heartfelt, feel good read.
I am probably going to come back to this and edit later to add more books that I’ve loved lately!
I wrote so much of this book on my cell phone! I am not the most tech savvy person and I’ve since learned that there is special software for this, but back when I was writing I would just pull up gmail and write in an email, and then send it to myself. Later at my desk I would copy and paste it into a bigger document.
I wrote the first draft in three months! Much of this was because I was afraid that if I didn’t get it done, I’d just give up. It took me another three months of editing before I began to seriously query agents, and ended up with an agent who sold the book in two weeks. So from start to sale, I began writing in March 2022, and we sold the book in November 2022!
I didn’t do a full tour, but I did a few events in New York, Washington DC and Jacksonville Florida, where I have family. I also went to two literary festivals, which was very nice. The literary festivals were a great way for me to meet other authors, which I really appreciated. Since I am a lawyer, my friends are all either other lawyers, or moms whose kids are in class with my kids. I didn’t have any writer friends when I began writing this book, and knew nothing about the industry. It has been nice to connect with other authors, especially when I loved their work.
I must say that my highlight in this regard was meeting Isabel Allende, in Sonoma. I grew up reading her books, and it was so nice to be able to talk to her!
You mentioned your second novel, The Young Will Remember, earlier. I was fortunate enough to snag an advanced copy, and as much as I loved Daughters of Shandong, I enjoyed this one even more. It’s one of the best historical fiction novels I’ve read in a long time. It had such wonderful characters, and I really appreciated the balance you brought to the subject, too. I felt I learned a lot about the Korean War, particularly how awful it was for the civilians. What a great book!
How did the novel come about? Did you get the idea for it while you were researching Daughters, or did it come later?
Yes, I am still working full time! For now, I write in my spare time, and it is something I love to do. At the same time however, it means I don’t have much room for any other hobbies. As much as I enjoy working in human rights, I do hope that maybe one day I will be able to write full time–and yet, I also feel like my work in human rights in turn feeds into what inspires my writing. For the next few years at least, I plan to keep doing both if I can!
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you got an early copy and that you are enjoying it. The idea for The Young Will Remember came around Christmas in 2023, and began as a story about an older woman whose daughter disappeared during World War II, and she is so desperate to find her own daughter that when she finds another young woman who is stranded, she wants to believe that this stranger is indeed her lost daughter. Gradually, the other pieces of the story came together around that theme, which focuses on the impact of war on mothers. In particular, I wanted to shed light on what happens to family members of victims of enforced disappearances, and how that loss affects them for the rest of their life. The Korean War took place in the 1950s, but not much has changed when it comes to war, except that it is even more destructive now. Admittedly, I put a lot of myself in the main character, Ellie. I am a Chinese/Taiwanese American, and my husband is half Korean, so our children are a mix of all those things. My second book is once again dedicated to them (along with women’s human rights defenders), because I would not have been able to write a story so rooted in motherhood if it wasn’t for the love that I have for them.
The Young Will Remember is a remarkable book and I can’t believe you were able to put it together so quickly. You’ve got an incredible imagination. I’m hoping I can convince your publisher to let us host it as a book group discussion as we did your last novel. I think the group would really enjoy it.
How were the writing and research processes different for this book from the last one, if at all?