Publisher's Synopsis
As a child growing up in Taiwan, Jane was indoctrinated in the culture of "The Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars." The exemplars were glorified by just how far they would go to sacrifice for and honor their parents. But Jane was born in a different era. She had to look for other ways to show that she was worthy of being a daughter. So she gave up her free will. She behaved how she was told to behave; she thought what she was told to think. Jane was told that no matter how "American families" acted, she was part of a Chinese family. She would abide by Chinese family rules. She obeyed and kept the rage of a little girl locked deep within herself. Until one day, the little girl could no longer contain the rage inside. Jane had to make a choice: Stay as her parents' daughter or reclaim her free will - and her will to live. This is an unflinching first-person account of emotional abuse and depression written as a mosaic of prose and essays. It tells of the dreams that unleashed the ghosts of the past, hymns of human resilience in the face of generations of domestic violence, and a long-awaited homecoming to the Self.
