The Interpreter's Daughter: A remarkable true story of feminist defiance in 19th Century Singapore
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- Create Date：2022-08-13 06:52:53
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Teresa Lim
- ISBN：0241544408
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Summary
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I would learn that when families tell stories， what they leave out re-defines what they keep in。 With my family， these were not secrets intentionally withheld。 Just truths too painful to confront。
In the last years of her life， Teresa Lim's mother， Violet Chang， had copies of a cherished family photograph made for those in the portrait who were still alive。 The photo is mounted on cream card with the name of the studio stamped at the bottom in Chinese characters。
The place and date on the back: Hong Kong， 1935。
Teresa would often look at this photograph， enticed by the fierceness and beauty of her great-aunt Fanny looking back at her。 But Fanny never seemed to feature in the told and retold family stories。 Why？ she wondered。
This photograph set Teresa on a journey to uncover her family's remarkable history。 Through detective work， serendipity， and the kindness of strangers， she was guided to the fascinating， ordinary， extraordinary life of her great-aunt and her world of sworn spinsters， ghost husbands and the working-class feminists of 19th century south China。 But to recover her great-aunt's past， we first must get to know Fanny's family， the times and circumstances in which they lived， and the momentous yet forgotten conflicts that would lead to war in Singapore and， ultimately， a long-buried family tragedy。
The Interpreter's Daughter is a beautifully moving record of an extraordinary family history。 For fans of Wild Swans， The Hare With Amber Eyes， and Falling Leaves this is the next classic in the making。
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Reviews
Sarah Burton
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The fascinating story of the migration of a family from China to Singapore in search of stability and a better life only to be caught up in the WWII conflict。 It is interesting to read how different members of the family adopt new traditions and standards within Singapore but when times are hard they find comfort in their heritage and traditional Chinese values。 A photograph from the past and a feeling of homesickness leads to the discovery of so much。Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a The fascinating story of the migration of a family from China to Singapore in search of stability and a better life only to be caught up in the WWII conflict。 It is interesting to read how different members of the family adopt new traditions and standards within Singapore but when times are hard they find comfort in their heritage and traditional Chinese values。 A photograph from the past and a feeling of homesickness leads to the discovery of so much。Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read The Interpreter's Daughter。 。。。more
Steve Capel
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For two years of my younger life 1969 to 1971 I lived in Singapore with my wife。 That experience only made reading this book more poignant。 It is remarkable story of young woman part of a remarkable family。。 It is a chronicle of some of the most turbulent times in the south east Asia of the 20 th century。 I have thoroughly enjoyed this well researched and well written history of the authors family and can recommend it without reservation to all those interested in the history of Singapore in the For two years of my younger life 1969 to 1971 I lived in Singapore with my wife。 That experience only made reading this book more poignant。 It is remarkable story of young woman part of a remarkable family。。 It is a chronicle of some of the most turbulent times in the south east Asia of the 20 th century。 I have thoroughly enjoyed this well researched and well written history of the authors family and can recommend it without reservation to all those interested in the history of Singapore in the first half of that century and also to those interested in Singapore's place in the history of WWII。 。。。more
Gill
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This starts quite slowly， albeit full of interesting facts about Chinese life from late 19th Century and earlier。 （Perhaps I only felt that 'slowness' because I thought I was reading fiction， instead of a biography - my bad！） We meet 4-5 generations of the Law family， all shown in a wonderful family photograph picturing Great Grandfather Law which was taken when he returned to his birthplace， to die。 We are taken through history from the early 20th Century to the Second World War， and all its de This starts quite slowly， albeit full of interesting facts about Chinese life from late 19th Century and earlier。 （Perhaps I only felt that 'slowness' because I thought I was reading fiction， instead of a biography - my bad！） We meet 4-5 generations of the Law family， all shown in a wonderful family photograph picturing Great Grandfather Law which was taken when he returned to his birthplace， to die。 We are taken through history from the early 20th Century to the Second World War， and all its devastation on Singapore and it's people left behind by the British （who only helped Europeans to get out） and refused to acknowledge to the people how dangerous the situation actually was。The story is an extremely moving account of a courageous woman who knew things 'before her time'; above all， how to survive as a female in Chinese society。 At the end， you are left with a feeling of great injustice - I don't want to put spoilers in here but I'm immensely glad that Teresa Lim has unearthed the facts; the sacrifice and courage of a woman trapped between Christianity and Chinese custom - and who didn't want to be forgotten。 。。。more
Roman Clodia
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There's an interesting story here but the book seems under-edited: Lim traces her family history， moving from China to Hong Kong， especially the life of her great-aunt Fanny， but tends to get distracted by too many other things， not least an attempt to re-tell the wider history of WW2 in the Asia-Pacific region。 Anecdotes of the Duff Coopers and various British ship captains， as well as inserting her own present-day research in odd ways - did we really need to be told that the National Archives There's an interesting story here but the book seems under-edited: Lim traces her family history， moving from China to Hong Kong， especially the life of her great-aunt Fanny， but tends to get distracted by too many other things， not least an attempt to re-tell the wider history of WW2 in the Asia-Pacific region。 Anecdotes of the Duff Coopers and various British ship captains， as well as inserting her own present-day research in odd ways - did we really need to be told that the National Archives at Kew are very different from the SOAS library？ - distract and detract from the fascinating core story。Where this works well is when Lim keeps her focus on China， Chinese culture and the personal stories of her family history。 She plays with the fiction/non-fiction boundary， inserting scenes and conversations that can only be imagined but which bring the past into fine focus。 I was fascinated by great-aunt Fanny and ideas like voluntary celibacy and really wanted more of that and less of the well-known WW2 trajectory。 Use of Chinese mythology and literature give this texture but overall I felt there was a great non-Western family memoir in here diluted by lots of extraneous material that could have been productively cut。 Worth a read， all the same。Thanks to Penguin for an ARC via NetGalley 。。。more
Catalina
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[。。。]it hardly mattered that my mother's stories were in fragments。 Prescience is a gift accorded only to the few。 It is distance， conferred by age or geography， that makes important the piercing together of things to see what they might make。I've been very touched by the Law's story。 Such an extraordinary story of endurance， of embracing change even at high costs。 A story of migration， traditions， the story of a family integrated into the story of China and into the larger story of South-East A [。。。]it hardly mattered that my mother's stories were in fragments。 Prescience is a gift accorded only to the few。 It is distance， conferred by age or geography， that makes important the piercing together of things to see what they might make。I've been very touched by the Law's story。 Such an extraordinary story of endurance， of embracing change even at high costs。 A story of migration， traditions， the story of a family integrated into the story of China and into the larger story of South-East Asia。 Despite being somewhat familiar with Japan's imperialist ambitions and the brutality of its WW2 strategies， I couldn't not be shocked and moved to tears once again upon reading all about it。 It is almost unbelievable that we， in Europe， don't hear more about it。 It is sad that somehow WW2 makes one only think of Germany， when we should equally think about other countries too。 It was fascinating to read about China， and learn a lot about its history and traditions。 Equally enthralling has been to familiarise myself with Singapore's tumultuous past。 But what I've enjoyed the most was the story of the Laws。 And in particular Fanny's story。 An extraordinary woman， daring to embrace change that will lead to great things for her family。 It must be amazing to discover your family has such a formidable woman in its history！ * Book from NetGalley with many thanks to the publisher！ 。。。more
Sarah
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2。5 rounded downFrom reading the blurb this sounded right up my street: a family history spanning east/south east Asia and set across China， Singapore and Hong Kong tracing the stories of an interpreter and one of his daughters。 So I'm sad to report that it failed to grab me and ultimately felt like a slog to finish。Lim structures the book around a chronology of her family tree interwoven with a recap of the history of Singapore and China from around the 1850s to early 20th Century （the main foc 2。5 rounded downFrom reading the blurb this sounded right up my street: a family history spanning east/south east Asia and set across China， Singapore and Hong Kong tracing the stories of an interpreter and one of his daughters。 So I'm sad to report that it failed to grab me and ultimately felt like a slog to finish。Lim structures the book around a chronology of her family tree interwoven with a recap of the history of Singapore and China from around the 1850s to early 20th Century （the main focus of her family tree/geneaology for the purposes of the book， although it is traced back much further）。 Now that is a lot of history to cover， and the book felt bogged down by this。 I totally get that this was useful context but I found it dry and it made for dull reading - if I wanted to know more about this element I'd read a book specifically on the topic。 The parts of the book that focus on her family themselves are made up of a sort of biography interspersed with what I can only call imaginary conversations her relatives had with one another。 Again， I understand why this device was used but I found these dialogues jarred with the tone of the rest of the book and felt awkward。Forgive me if this sounds overly harsh but I felt similarly about this book to how I feel when people tell me about their dreams: if they're someone close to me， sure， I might find the story interesting to read about。 But this book never had me fully gripped or felt all that compelling。 There are a number of other reviews online which are much more positive than mine。 This is not a bad book， it just didn't suit my own personal reading preferences and tastes。Thank you Netgalley and Penguin / Michael Joseph for the advance copy， which was provided in exchange for an honest review。 。。。more
Leanne Neale
，
I was surprised by how much I loved this book。 An old photograph of the author’s great grandfather begins a journey of genealogical research and discovery。 This book is one for history lovers as it charts the historical effects on four generations within the author’s family。 The book is well researched and contains numerous references to historical figures and events。 An absolutely fabulous read！
Lynda
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This is a heartwarming and at times heartbreaking memoir about the authors family from the 19th century to the present set largely in and around South East Asia。 Anyone who is interested in the history of this part of the world will love this book， memoir aside， as it is covered in quite a lot of depth， not just the history that affected the family。 Briefly， Teresa had a family photograph with Hong Kong， 1935 written on the back。 The more she thought about the more she wanted to find out more ab This is a heartwarming and at times heartbreaking memoir about the authors family from the 19th century to the present set largely in and around South East Asia。 Anyone who is interested in the history of this part of the world will love this book， memoir aside， as it is covered in quite a lot of depth， not just the history that affected the family。 Briefly， Teresa had a family photograph with Hong Kong， 1935 written on the back。 The more she thought about the more she wanted to find out more about her family’s history， particularly that of her Great Aunt Fanny who the family never really spoke of。 But to discover more about Fanny， and what turns out to be a quite shocking history， she needed to find out more about other members of the family first。 The story start with her great grandfather who， nearing the end of his life， wanted to return to his home in China。 Along with other members of his family he left Singapore to travel home via Hong Kong。 This is where the photograph was taken。From the Chinese secret societies in Singapore to the University of Hong Kong， from the accepted practices of concubines， women sworn to remain spinsters and foot binding， this is at times quite a distressing indictment of how women were treated in China during this time。 A fascinating story and was clearly a labour of love for the author。 Very well researched and an enjoyable read。 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 。。。more
Georgina Reads_Eats_Explores
，
Teresa Lim’s memoir of a long-buried family tragedy set against the Second World War in Singapore is billed by the publisher as “a beautiful， sweeping， multigenerational memoir of Lim’s extraordinary family”。It’s a fact of life that where we come from is important; it helps form our identity。 This is no different for Lim and her family。 The Interpreter’s Daughter is set in a pivotal time in the history of Southeast Asia， providing a complex backdrop to this compelling story of family loyalty and Teresa Lim’s memoir of a long-buried family tragedy set against the Second World War in Singapore is billed by the publisher as “a beautiful， sweeping， multigenerational memoir of Lim’s extraordinary family”。It’s a fact of life that where we come from is important; it helps form our identity。 This is no different for Lim and her family。 The Interpreter’s Daughter is set in a pivotal time in the history of Southeast Asia， providing a complex backdrop to this compelling story of family loyalty and personal sacrifice。 In the last years of her life， Lim's mother， Violet Chang， had copies of a cherished family photograph made for those in the portrait who were still alive， the place and date on the back: Hong Kong， 1935。 Lim would often look at this photograph， enticed by her great-aunt Fanny looking back at her; because Fanny wasn’t featured in the familiar family stories that Lim heard told and retold。 But why？Inspired by this old photo and her inquisitiveness Lim delves into her quest to uncover a hidden chapter in her family’s history， discovering the extraordinary life of her great-aunt and her world of sworn spinsters， ghost husbands and the working-class feminists of the nineteenth century south China。Lim explores the times and circumstances in which the family lived and the momentous yet forgotten conflicts that would lead to war in Singapore and， ultimately， a tragedy， making for a fascinatingly emotive and richly textured read。 As Lim would learn， when families tell stories， what they leave out re-defines what they keep in， and this is not always intentional; it’s just that some truths can be too painful to confront。Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this review copy。 。。。more
Lucie
，