Love, Honour, War and One Family's Journey Out of China.
'The Girl From Purple Mountain' begins with the poignant story of a grieving husband who does not understand why his beloved wife, Mei-en, made elaborate arrangements to be buried alone - not in a shared plot or even in the same cemetery.
For many years, Ruth Mei-en Tsao Chai's family remained shocked by her decision, which they could not begin to fathom - until they came to fully understand her extraordinary story.
In this riveting memoir, Mei-en's first born son and his daughter explore family history to reconstruct her life as they seek to understand this fateful decision. Born in China at the beginning of the 20th century, Mei-en was one of the first women admitted into a Chinese university in an era when most women in China were illiterate and had bound feet. Later she would defy tradition and refuse to marry the man her family had chosen for her, instead choosing his younger brother as her husband.
During World War II, she served as Lady Mountbatten's interpreter in China and as the Japanese Army advanced across China, her foresight and quick thinking kept her family alive. After the war, she immigrated to the US with her family to what, until her death, seemed a happier and more peaceful life.
A true story of love, betrayal and healing, set against the shifting ideas of 20th century China.
