Daughter of China: A True Story of Love and Betrayal: A True Story of Love and Betrayal - Softcover

'Closer to Jung Chang's groundbreaking Wild Swans than many other memoirs, Daughter of China adds to the small number of Chinese memoirs that are really worth reading.' (Literary Review )

'I love this book ... Here is a story that should be sung as well as read. I will never forget it.' (Yan Geling )

'From the first riveting, provocative pages, Daughter of China held me spellbound ... A must-read for anyone with even a passing curiosity about the inner workings of Communist China.' (Aimee Liu )

'If Meihong Xu's story weren't true, a Hollywood scriptwriter would have invented it.' (The Times )

This is the acclaimed memoir of an extraordinary woman trained as an elite soldier in the Chinese Army, her forbidden love for an American, and her seemingly impossible escape-with his help-from the nation to which she had pledged her life. An astonishing testament to the enduring resilience of love and the human spirit in the face of even the most oppressive, hopeless conditions, Daughter of China offers a stunning look at life inside the rigid walls of Communist China, revealing in fascinating detail Xu's inculcation into the system-a process so effective that she would willingly betray a friend or family member to prove her loyalty. Written with clear-eyed candor and stark eloquence, Daughter of China is at once a timeless, deeply moving story of a prohibited love affair and a dramatic depiction of life under Chinese Communism. As finely wrought as the best espionage fiction and containing all the emotional force of a novel, Daughter of China is all the more riveting because it is true.Meihong Xu (San Jose, CA) joined the People's Liberation Army when she was seventeen and received her BA from the Institute of International Relations in Nanjing.

Larry Engelmann (San Jose, CA) is a professor of history at San Jose State University and a journalist.