Bound Feet And Western Dress

(Paperback)

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A rich and evocative dual memoir of a first-generation Chinese-American and her great-aunt. After long afternoons spent with her great-aunt Yu-i, Pang-Mei, a first-generation Chinese-American, paints this unforgettable saga of a woman, born in Shanghai at the turn of the century to a well-to-do family, who continually defied the expectations of her class and culture. 'In China, a woman is nothing,' began Yu-i over tea and dumplings. 'This is the first lesson I want to give so that you will understand.' Growing up in the perilous years between the fall of the last Emperor and the Communist Revolution, Yu-i led a life marked by a series of rebellions that changed the course of her life, including the first and most lasting- her refusal to have her feet bound. And as Yu-i confides her innermost dreams and demons to her great-niece in this dual memoir, the deeply textured portrait of a woman's life in China is blended with the very Western story of a young woman's search for identity and belonging.

Reviews

'Exquisite...This is an enthralling tale of a woman who achieved independence despite great odds' * Publishers Weekly *
'Ms Chang [tells] her story with unassuming delicacy...A touching, bittersweet evocation of China' * The New York Times *
A rich, evocative memoir * People *
A gripping, candid dual memoir * South China Morning Post *

Author Bio

Pang-Mei Natasha Chang was raised in Connecticut. She practised law in New York City before moving to Moscow, where she currently resides with her husband. Bound Feet & Western Dress is her first book.