Qin Sun Stubis grew up in the squalor of a Shanghai shantytown during the Great Chinese Famine, her once-prestigious family was shunned as political pariahs and forced to endure chronic poverty, torture, treacherous political shifts, and even an assassination attempt. But their nights came alive with stories of the family’s incredible history: colorful tales of pirates, prophecies, fortunes won and lost, glorious lives and gruesome deaths.
Based on actual experiences and family lore from the post-Imperial to post-Cultural Revolution eras, Qin – a longtime newspaper columnist exploring the similarities and differences between East and West – has united these stories in a gorgeously written and gripping nonfiction narrative, Once Our Lives, uncovering one of the most fascinating yet largely overlooked portions of Chinese history, as told by those who lived it.
This is the remarkable true story of four generations of Chinese women and how their lives were threatened by powerful and cruel ancient traditions, historic upheavals, gender oppression, and a man whose fate – cursed by a superstitious prophecy that appears to come true – dramatically altered their destinies.
The book takes the reader on an exotic journey filled with luxurious banquets, lost jewels, babies sold in opium dens, kidnappings at sea, and a desperate flight from death in the desert – seen through the eyes of a man for whom the truth would spell disaster and a lonely, beautiful girl with three identities.
About the author: Eventually, through sheer grit and perseverance, Qin Sun Stubis won admission to the famed Shanghai Institute of Foreign Languages and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English and English Literature. With the help of family, friends, and a powerful U.S. senator, Qin was granted a visa to study abroad. She arrived in America with two suitcases and not much more. After winning several scholarships, she graduated with a master’s degree and a profound love for her new adoptive country.
For the past 15 years, Qin has been a newspaper columnist and writes poems, essays, short stories, and original Chinese tall tales inspired by traditional Asian themes. Her writing is inflected with both Eastern and Western flavors in ways that transcend geography to touch hearts and reveal universal truths.
The Great Neck Library author event is on Monday, Dec. 18 at 7:00 p.m. at the Main Library 159 Bayview Avenue in Great Neck.
Registration is not required. First come first seated. Books will be available for purchase and signing at the event. For more information, please contact Great Neck Library at (516) 466-8055 or email adultprogramming@greatnecklibrary.org.
