I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I will certainly recommend it to others. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

Eva Richter presents the reader with a refugee's need to flee their homeland. Her family flees Nazi Germany because they are of Jewish heritage. They then embark on an eleven-day transcontinental journey to the People's Republic of China, which eventually went under Japanese Occupation. The country was full of corruption and chaos between two warring factions, the nationalists and communists. With the rise of Mao Zedong, they are forced to flee Communist China and eventually head to America. It was not easy to adapt, and they went through challenges in their quest to acquire citizenship. One thing she highlights is that the process was easier then than now, and the negative stereotypes of refugees were not as pronounced as they are now. Her hope is for her readers to see things through the eyes of a refugee who has to leave their home of origin. She writes about what it's like to be a stateless person without any nationality. Her narrative is interesting but sad. Through it all, Eva teaches us about perseverance. This book should be read to change the narrative about people who come to countries seeking asylum

Autobiography of Eva, whose German Jewish parents fled to China in the 1930s, because it was one of the few places where they could carry on with their work as doctors without having to retrain! They lived in a city called Tientsin and which was a real melting pot of cultures, with foreigners far outnumbering the Chinese. It was interesting to see them live through the war at initially a safe distance, living alongside both fellow Jews and staunch Nazis, amongst others. In the “concession” Eva had a very British, Christian upbringing, and her family were in quite a privileged position, until the Japanese entered the war and then things in China took a much more dramatic turn, but the family were mostly able to carry on fairly the same as before.

I enjoyed her mother getting a document in both German and Chinese saying that they were stateless, then trimming off the Chinese translation and using it as an ID because no one could read the German and would just glance at the official seal and let them be on their way!

By far the most enthralling part of the book was their post war fleeing of the impending communist regime. China in the 1940s is not a place I knew much about before this book.

Overall I found it very interesting, but not particularly engaging. It was very factual but that sometimes came across as a bit dry and textbook like, and even the tone of the more anecdotal stories of her life were often a bit emotionless. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book.

A fascinating look at life in the Chinese foreign concessions before, during and after WWII and the privileged life one family experienced near Beijing.

It was so interesting to learn Eva's story of life growing up as a child in war-torn China during WWII. I have not read much about those from the Asian countries who lived through this time and it brought so much more of what it was like into perspective.
Thank you for an enlightening autobiography.