"The Good Chinese Daughter: Growing up in China and in America," is an inspiring memoir of a successful woman, mother and author, looking for unconditional love from her mother who almost "aborted" her. After her mother divorced her first husband, she kept reminding her daughter that she might not have been born. Elizabeth, born in Shanghai, was traumatized as a child as she watched the cruelty and brutality of the Imperial Japanese army in Manila, The Philippines. It was there she learned to deal with the fact that the man she called "Dad" was her stepfather. Her mother, a socialite, spent little time with her daughter who was reared by her beloved amah, Ah Woo. Elizabeth, the "good" Chinese daughter - obedient, loyal and gracious, true to her Chinese tradition and Catholic upbringing - dreamed of closer relationship with her mother and stepfather. Caught between two worlds - her Chinese upbringing and adjusting to life in the U.S. when the family moved to California, she searched for her true self and personal identity in the shadow of her strong-willed, dominant mother. In spite of the inevitable tensions that marked the relationship, she served as her mother's right hand, helping to raise her five younger siblings and to manage the household. All of us search, at one time or another in our lives, for the assurance of love and acceptance from loved ones, whether parents, spouse, children or friends. As Elizabeth raised her own family in the U.S. which includes two sons and their spouses, seven grandchildren and a husband of great renown in the field of bioengineering, she kept looking for the something that was "missing" in her life. Finally she found it in Christian Meditation - the peace that serves to bridge the gap between her mother and herself and other relationships in her life. During her Mom's waning years, they came to something of a reconciliation. Elizabeth found peace and a deeper integration of her life experiences through contemplative prayer - a form of communion with the transcendent taking place in total silence and stillness.
About the Author: Elizabeth Chiu King, author of three popular books about Chinese food - how to prepare it, how to eat it and where to find it in her home area of Metro Detroit, MI, finally shares her own life story. Her new autobiography, "The Good Chinese Daughter: Growing up in China and in America," leaps across time and space like an automated jumping bean. Born in Shanghai, she and her family lived in Manila during World War II. She was educated in Hong Kong, and came to the U.S. in 1955 with her family. She attended the University of Hong Kong, the University of San Francisco, the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Michigan, holding graduate degrees in English and Library Science. She has worked as a librarian and teacher at Henry Ford Community College in Dearborn for 20 years. Since settling in the Greater Detroit area in the 1960s, she has been active in community and church affairs. She founded and chaired five organizations and also served on the Guiding Board of the World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM) as its China coordinator for over 10 years. She says, "There are so many needs in our world - each of us must find our way to help make make it better, more human and more understanding. I've tried to do my part, and to encourage others to find a way to share their gifts and experience."