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Sweeping new epic gives rare glimpse
into hidden chinese history
Pirates, prophecies, love, and survival – True stories offer a new look at life in Post-Imperial and Revolutionary China, as experienced by four generations of women
Qin Sun Stubis grew up in the squalor of a Shanghai shantytown during the Great Chinese
Famine, her once-prestigious family 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” (June 1, 2023, Guernica Editions), uncovering one of the most fascinating
yet largely overlooked portions of Chinese history, as told by those who lived it.
“Once Our Lives” 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.
This poignant epic offers an intimate look into the extraordinary lives of ordinary people living behind China’s greatest historical headlines – with a narrative so incredible that had it been written as fiction, people might not believe it.
“Once Our Lives”
Qin Sun Stubis | June 1, 2023 | Guernica Editions | Creative Nonfiction, Historical Memoir
Paperback | ISBN: 978-1-77183-796-5 | $21.95 (U.S.) / $25 (Canadian)
About the Author
QIN SUN STUBIS was born in the squalor of a Shanghai shantytown during the Great
Chinese Famine. Growing up during the Cultural Revolution, she quickly learned that
words could thrill – and even kill. She saw her defiantly honest father imprisoned and
tortured for using the wrong words. Shunned as political pariahs, Qin and her family
sustained themselves with books and stories of adventure and past glory. With the
help of a borrowed radio, an eccentric British teacher, and a fortuitous assignment
as a library assistant, Qin discovered and fell in love with Western literature,
committing to memory the strange but beautiful sounds of Keats, Wordsworth, and Lincoln.
But it was in bed late each night, after scouring local parks for enough firewood to cook the family’s meal of rice, that Qin and her three small sisters heard the dramatic stories that make up this book. The four girls listened to their mother, an aspiring actress in the early days of Asian cinema, recount colorful tales of pirates, prophecies, fortunes won and lost, babies sold in opium dens, glorious lives and gruesome deaths. Based on actual experiences and family lore from the Post-Imperial to Post-Cultural Revolution eras, these stories represent a wealth of colorful but largely overlooked Chinese history.
Eventually, through sheer grit and perseverance, Qin 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.
Learn more: www.QinSunStubis.com.
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Endorsements and reviews
“…a sweeping story, rich with detail…a wide-ranging story that keeps the reader engaged throughout.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“A moving account of family lore and life, Once Our Lives is paradoxically both heartrending and heartening – heartrending in its depiction of this family's suffering and heartening in its depiction of the love that survives it all. I was riveted and moved.
— Gish Jen, award-winning author of “Thank you, Mr. Nixon,” featured in The New Yorker’s Best Books of 2022, NPR’s Books We Love, Oprah’s Favorite Books of 2022, and “The Best American Short Stories of the Century.”
“This gripping memoir illuminates the full humanity of real people across four generations. A truly haunting tale of resilience, endurance and hope.”
— Helen Zia, acclaimed author of “Last Boat out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese who Fled Mao’s Revolution”
“Qin Stubis combines oral traditions of mythologized family lore with the creative non-fiction writing of memoir. The reader experiences firsthand the vacillations of recent Chinese history.”
— Dr. Jennifer Rudolph, Professor, Asian History, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and co-author of “The China Questions” (Harvard University Press)
"A wonderful writer whose extraordinary ability and beautifully descriptive writing allow her to share her unusual experiences with readers in a uniquely powerful way."
— The Santa Monica Star
“Qin Sun Stubis is notable for the warmth of her writing and her ability to touch the hearts and minds of a wide variety of readers – a rare talent.“
— GRAND Magazine