Daughters of Shandong

by Eve J Chung · 2024

Daughters of Shandong is a propulsive historical novel that follows Hai, the eldest of four sisters, and her mother as they flee the Communist takeover of rural Shandong in 1948. After the Ang family’s male members abandon them, the women are left to survive brutal land‑seizing cadres, endure a harrowing trial, and forge travel permits for a thousand‑mile trek through Qingdao, British Hong Kong and finally Taiwan. Along the way they confront patriarchal oppression, the devastation of civil war, and the loss of home, while discovering new freedom and the strength of sisterhood. Based on the author’s family story, the book offers hopeful, powerful insight into women’s resilience in war and the enduring bonds between mothers, daughters, and sisters.