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Searching for Billie: A Journalist’s Quest to Understand His Mother’s Past Leads Him to Discover a Vanished China

Searching for Billie: A Journalist’s Quest to Understand His Mother’s Past Leads Him to Discover a Vanished China

by Ian Gill (Author)
★★★★★
★★★★★

5|26 ratings

$17.95
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What customers say

Customers praise the book's scholarly research, with one review highlighting its detailed exploration of a complicated life. Moreover, the story receives positive feedback for being an exceptionally moving read about a remarkable woman, and customers appreciate its touching tribute to the author's mother. Additionally, the writing quality is well-received, with one customer describing it as a masterpiece of biographical writing. Customers also appreciate the book's portrayal of resilience, with one review specifically mentioning the author's mother's strength in the face of internment.

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Ian Gill's first visit to Hong Kong takes an unexpected turn when he meets his Chinese mother Billie's friends, colleagues and fellow ex-prisoners of war, lifting the veil on a tumultuous past in Shanghai and Hong Kong. He moves to Asia and unravels her intriguing journey: from controversial adoption by an English postmaster in Changsha to popular radio broadcaster in wartime Shanghai, from tragedy and a doomed romance in a Japanese internment camp to being decorated by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the United Nations. He discovers a great-grandmother in a determined English farm girl who ends up owning a well-known hotel on the China coast in the 1870s – and he finally meets his father for the first time on a Canadian island in 1985. The backdrop for this fascinating family story is China's turbulent century between the Anglo-Chinese wars and the advent of communism. Read more

Product Information

PublisherBlacksmith Books
Publication dateApril 8, 2024
LanguageEnglish
Print length320 pages
ISBN-109887554669
ISBN-13978-9887554660
Item Weight1.14 pounds
Dimensions5.5 x 1.25 x 8.5 inches
Best Sellers Rank#1,781,368 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #296 in Historical China Biographies #1,145 in Asian & Asian American Biographies #2,339 in Chinese History (Books)
Customer Reviews5.0 5.0 out of 5 stars 26 ratings

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