Lost in China by Jennifer Dobbs is a very interesting memoir about the author's childhood in China during WWII. Born in 1934, Jennifer is raised with her younger brother, American mother and British father in China. As the war between Japan and China hits a boiling point in 1940, Jennifer and her family begin a series of journeys across China to Burma using transportation such as: Red Cross convoys, Rickshaws, being carried by servants in Sedan chairs, driving cars across bridges made of pontoon boats or bamboo and many other bizarre modes of transportation that would be unthinkable today. Throughout the journey the family encounters dangerous people, must hide in caves during air raids and the children change schools and nannies each time they finally seem to adjust to a new location.
Jennifer and her brother are separated from their parents in 1941 when they go to Hong Kong and do not return. A servant is asked to bring the children to friends of their parents, where they stay for a period of time before being sent to a boarding school. They are then returned to the friends in preparation for a very long journey to America. All along the children receive no news of their parents, have none of their personal belongings and are living among complete strangers for over a year. The journey to America takes over a month and requires a series of short plane rides through Africa and South America. Once in Washington they are reunited with their mother, who was held in a POW camp and told that their father died. They are also reunited with their older brother who had been away at boarding school during the time they were traveling through China, and their maternal grandmother.
Jennifer's story is incredible. I learned so much about China during WWII as well as a lot of new information about the war as it played out in Asia. Often the most popular books about WWII are set in Europe or involve Japan and America, but I have not had a chance to read about the fighting between China and Japan and really appreciated this informative story. Considering Jennifer was only 6-8 years old during the majority of the events, she is able to give an extensive amount of detail. Some of this information was gathered through research and through trips back to China in the late 1990s, but regardless the amount that she was able to share is remarkable. Each chapter has footnotes, making it much easier to navigate than books where there are pages and pages of notes at the end. Additionally, where possible, Jennifer also included photos and maps to supplement the written information. The book reads like a memoir but has enough historical information to be seen as a non-fiction text about China during this period. It is well organized, well written and has a great balance of emotion and detail to make it difficult to put down. I found it was still a fairly quick read, in fact I finished it in under 24 hours, as I just had to find out what happened next!
Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book! I would highly recommend it to people interested in WWII and China's involvement, as well as memoir-lovers like me!
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