Introduction
This influential book by writer and translator Kwan reckons his tumultuous coming-of-age in China during and after World War II. This direct and poetic work clarifies the contradictions of wartime as set through the eyes of a child. Kwan is alienated from his Swiss mother as a young boy and servants take care of him while his father remarries an Englishwoman. Thus, David is emotionally distant from his father who is a wealthy administrator for China's railroads, and a role model to those he interacts with. Kwan's story is as much about his father as it is about him. He explores interesting details ...
