The Distant Land of My Father

September 10, 2001
Caldwell's memoirlike first novel begins in 1930s Shanghai, a city where enterprising foreign entrepreneurs can quickly become millionaires—and just as quickly lose everything as victims of the volatile political climate. Six-year-old narrator Anna Schoene tells the tale of her insurance salesman/smuggler father, Joseph, the son of American missionaries, whose life-long obsession with the city's opportunities gains him great riches, though it ultimately costs him his family and almost his life. Anna worships her father. Her life in Shanghai has been one of privilege, thanks to his shady business dealings. But after a harrowing kidnapping incident, and frightened by the Japanese invasion of China, her mother, Genevieve, flees home to South Pasadena, Calif., taking Anna with her. Joseph is convinced that his connections will keep him safe and refuses to leave. Imprisoned and tortured by the Japanese and subsequently the Chinese Communists, he survives, although he loses everything and is finally deported back to America in 1954. Over the years Anna has distanced herself emotionally from her father, realizing he needed money and power more than he needed his family. But when the physically broken and spiritually reborn Joseph returns to California, he reconciles with the grown Anna and her family. The memoir-style structure lends the characters a certain flatness, but Caldwell's even tone gives the tale a panoramic elegance. Though lacking in narrative vitality, the novel is interesting from a historical perspective and vivid with details of prewar Shanghai and Los Angeles.

August 3, 2001
This remarkable first novel by a Washington Post writer tells the story of young Anna, whose troubled relationship with her maddening, enigmatic father, Joseph Schoene, is set against exotic wartime Shanghai. China-born missionary kid Joe speaks fluent Mandarin and becomes a tremendously successful if somewhat shady import-exporter. With his beautiful wife, Eve, and their beloved daughter, the family lives a privileged existence, but when the Japanese invade, their life quickly unravels. Joe sends his family to California, but he himself is arrested and jailed. After being briefly reunited with them, he returns to China to remake his fortune only to be interned by the Communists. He survives four grueling years in a horrendous prisonhe's nothing if not a survivorwhile unlucky Eve succumbs to unhappiness and leukemia. Though her grandmother warns Anna about letting Joe back into her life, Anna is conflicted. She has spent less than half her life with her father, and he wounded her badly, but she once loved him very much. Will she betray her gentle mother's memory by allowing him back into her life? This is a moving tale of love and the possibility of forgiveness, and Caldwell draws the reader in through powerfully drawn emotion and subtle characterization. Recommended for all libraries.Jo Manning, Barry Univ., Miami Shores, FL

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.