THE GIRL FROM PURPLE MOUNTAIN

Family lore is shared and family secrets are revealed in this two-in-one memoir, which also offers a unique perspective of a pivotal period in 20th-century Chinese history.

After Ruth Tsao Chai’s death, her surprised family discovered that she had secretly arranged to be buried alone rather than in the plot she and her devoted husband had purchased years before. In order to understand Ruth’s strange choice, her first-born son, Winberg, and her granddaughter, May-lee (My Lucky Face, 1997) examine the woman’s eventful life. Through alternating narratives and points of view, a three-dimensional portrait emerges of a woman who defied traditional expectations. Intelligent, beautiful, stubborn, and a Christian, Ruth was one of the first women admitted to a university in China. She refused an arranged marriage and instead chose Charles, who courted her while they were both students in the US. After they married and returned to China, they became involved in the country’s changing political tides and significant events—including the Japanese invasions. It was Ruth’s intuition that kept her family alive during WWII and enabled them to immigrate to the US. But her life never really turned out as she truly wished, and she grew resentful and suspicious with age and eventually made her unusual burial request. In their investigations, son and granddaughter journeyed to China, where Winberg’s memories were rekindled and May-lee gained a sense of her own identity by learning about her family’s origins. A personal photo appears at the start of each chapter, which nicely creates the illusion of thumbing through a family album. By looking at the faces of people now departed but once vividly alive (especially Ruth’s, as she ages through the chapters), the reader is inspired to address universal moods and longings.

A multilayered memoir that successfully weaves historical detail with familial emotions of different generations and fulfills Ruth’s ultimate wish: to be remembered. (b&w photos throughout)