Beyond the Narrow Gate Book

The Chinese this century have endured traumas inconceivable to modern Western generations. Beyond the Narrow Gate is the story of four girls who fled extreme violence, privation, and the Communist Red Army in 1948. Author Leslie Chang hoped to uncover the family history that her mother, one of the girls, was unwilling to talk about and learn her own identity in the process. The gulf between their experiences is profound. As Chang says of her orphaned mother, "At thirteen, she had learned to expect only the worst from life; at thirteen, I thought the greatest tragedy was losing a contact lens." Chang's tale weaves together several themes: her mother's passage from Chinese student to American housewife; the varied experiences of three friends her mother made at an elite girls' school in Taiwan; the mother-daughter relationship; and growing up in an alien culture. Chang brings great empathy, passion, and descriptive elegance to this important book about the contemporary immigrant experience, exploring territory opened up to us by Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club and Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior. When the book ends with mother and daughter celebrating Chinese New Year in Taiwan, we share in the understanding that enables them to sit quietly with the ancient aunt who took advantage of the mother when she was a defenseless teenager. For the first time, Chinese celebrations hold meaning for Leslie Chang. --John StevensonRead More