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The Distant Land of My Father
The Distant Land of My Father
Author: Bo Caldwell
Anna, the narrator of this riveting first novel, lives in a storybook world: exotic pre- World War II Shanghai, with handsome young parents, wealth, and comfort. Her father, the son of missionaries, leads a charmed and secretive life, though his greatest joy is sharing his beloved city with his only daughter. Yet when Anna and her mother flee Ja...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780156027137
ISBN-10: 0156027135
Publication Date: 9/9/2002
Pages: 400
Rating:
  • Currently 4.2/5 Stars.
 49

4.2 stars, based on 49 ratings
Publisher: Harvest Books
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed The Distant Land of My Father on + 5 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
A compelling read. Could not put it down once I stared reading it.
reviewed The Distant Land of My Father on + 12 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
A really good book that tells about the love between a father and a daughter and the father and a city. And how that man refuses to put his wife and daughter before that city. The characters were so believsble. At times, the book brought tears to my eyes. Our book club just read it and everyone in the group gave the book a "thumbs up".
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reviewed The Distant Land of My Father on + 11 more book reviews
Like the other reviewers, this book kept my interest and attention to the end. I, also, read it until it was finished, in one sitting. The author writes in a way that pulls you in and makes you feel that you are seeing it all. Loved it.
reviewed The Distant Land of My Father on + 3 more book reviews
Wonderful insight into China.
reviewed The Distant Land of My Father on + 8 more book reviews
Beautiful book. Fictional narrative embedded with historical accounts. Great read.
reviewed The Distant Land of My Father on + 111 more book reviews
Great book. Full of history that kept u riveted. Great characters. Just loved this book.
reviewed The Distant Land of My Father on
This is a first novel. According to the back cover, the narrator grows up in Shanghai in the 30s and 40s and has a special bond with her father, who is a smuggler and millionaire. (His parents, however, were missionaries.) The family flees to Los Angeles in the face of the Japanese occupation, but the father remains in Shanghai, "believing his connections and luck will keep him safe. He's wrong." He does survive, but still choses Shanghai over his family during WWII. The daughter connects with him again, late in his life, but she can't really understand him until she reads his journals.


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