- Hardcover: 337 pages
- Publisher: Cressett Press (1939)
- ASIN: B000GBYCWA
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,702,943 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover
As an American, Nora Waln has the extraordinary experience at the age of 25 of being "adopted" into a wealthy and influential rural family in the early days of the Chinese Republic. She writes in detail of the family's history and the rites and traditions that guide daily life. She seems, however, to have a romanticised view of the lives of the ordinary Chinese of the time, observing their occupations, attendance at festivals etc but without reference to the pervasive poverty of the times. Regrettably, too, she makes only passing reference to the obviously high connections the family has with those who shaped China's destiny, including Chiang Kai-shek, and one is left feeling she could have added a lot more to one's understanding of the political history of the period. Nevertheless, Waln provides a fascinating and unique insight into the lives of the privileged of the time and for that reason alone the book is well worth the read.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have a very old copy of this book, published in 1939 by Penguin. (First published 1933.) I have no idea how representative it is of the lives of Chinese people in the 30s (the author obviously came from a very privileged background) but it is a very vivid and personal account of one woman's experience of living through the "interesting times" that China endured in the 20s and 30s. It must be a very unusual book - we seem to have a lot of reminiscences about life in China, told by mothers and grandmothers to women living in the late 20th and early 21st centuries; this is a first hand account. Although not specifically feminist, it is interesting from a feminist perspective, being very much told from a daughter's and a woman's viewpoint, and that woman one who embraced the "modern" and western world which would allow her to have an education and a career.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5 reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
I can barely wait to read House of Exile
1 Mar 2005
Format:Paperback
Nora Waln was an American Quaker. She married George Edward Osland-Hill, an officer in the English Foreign Service, whom she called "Ted." Ted had one daughter by his first wife, Marie Osland-Hill Wade. In 1934 Ted retired from the English Foreign Service and went to Germany to study classical music. Nora reluctly followed. During this time his daughter was in Switzerland going to school. They were in Germany until late 1938. While there, Nora wrote Reaching for the Stars - her observations of the German people, Hitler and life during the rise of Nazism.
During the war, she lived in London where her home served as a temporary half-way house for children the underground smuggled out of Germany, Norway and Czechoslovika. After the war she went back to Germany as a correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly. In 1946 she did a speaking tour to 60 cities in the US and Canada to raise money for relief efforts and encourage members of her sority, Kappa Kappa Gamma, to make layettes she promised for the babies of Norway. These parents did not even have newspaper to cloth their children.
I learned of Nora Waln when I was a child because Kappas gathered around a ping pong table in my mother's basement to sew nightgowns, booties, hats, blankets and other items for these layettes. 5,000 layettes (each layette made up of 70 items) were delivered to Norway the following year.
If you liked House of Exile, you may want to try Reaching for the Stars. It is out of print. I got a used copy through Amazon.
During the war, she lived in London where her home served as a temporary half-way house for children the underground smuggled out of Germany, Norway and Czechoslovika. After the war she went back to Germany as a correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly. In 1946 she did a speaking tour to 60 cities in the US and Canada to raise money for relief efforts and encourage members of her sority, Kappa Kappa Gamma, to make layettes she promised for the babies of Norway. These parents did not even have newspaper to cloth their children.
I learned of Nora Waln when I was a child because Kappas gathered around a ping pong table in my mother's basement to sew nightgowns, booties, hats, blankets and other items for these layettes. 5,000 layettes (each layette made up of 70 items) were delivered to Norway the following year.
If you liked House of Exile, you may want to try Reaching for the Stars. It is out of print. I got a used copy through Amazon.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Excellent read for Sinophiles
28 Jun 1998
Format:Paperback
Having lived in China and Taiwan for over 5 years, I truly enjoyed this insight into Chinese life in the 1920's! The author does a wonderful job of pulling the reader into the historical events. I am very interested to know what happened to the author, her daughter and her husband.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
House of Exile Great History
30 Mar 2000
Format:Paperback
A friend loaned this to me after I raved about "WildSwans", which I got from Amazon auction. The style is not warmlybiographical, but the author gives an amazing picture of life in China from 1927 to 1933. I too would love to know what happened to her and her family. Anyone who enjoyed this should certainly read "Wild Swans" by Jung Chang. Both contain information about China which was a complete revelation for me.
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