Several months ago, when I received news from the Independent Publishers Book Awards that Immigrant Soldier had earned the bronze medal in the military/wartime fiction category, one of the first things I did (after sending the news to my readers) was to look at the other winners of this niche genre.
When I had placed my book in this category, it had been as a kind of back up after the historical fiction field where I normally consider Immigrant Soldier to fit. But I knew that popular and often romance-driven genre would be heavily impacted and military fiction would also be a good fit with fewer contenders. Along with the good news of my bronze IPPY, I couldn’t help but wonder what type of books had earned the two higher awards in the area.
Not surprisingly, the other winners dealt with more direct military action (fighting, guns, even killing) than Immigrant Soldier. Also, not surprisingly, the other two authors were both men. The Silver IPPY went to the novel Terror on the Alert by Robert W. Mackay. It takes place in 1962 on a cold war submarine and promises tension and a shattering conclusion in its Amazon description.
But it was the gold medal winner that captured my attention. Two Sons of China by Andrew Lam takes place in 1944 China. It interested me first because of its WWII connection. But, beyond that, I have a long-standing interest in China and have read almost as much about things Chinese as I have about the Holocaust. I am fascinated by the country and its people—everything from Chinese cooking, to foot-binding, to memoirs of Chinese-Americans, to the long history of that vast land. Books on these subjects fill my shelves. Ever since my interest was sparked by Pearl S. Buck’s The Good Earth when I read it as a teenager, I have immersed myself in stories of China. Back in the 1970s when traveling in England and India, I began reading the works of Han Suyin, who was published in Britain, but is little known in the United States except for the romantic movie based on her semi-autobiographical novel, Love is a Many Splendored Thing. But it is her detailed three-volume autobiography/biography/history of China and its people (The Crippled Tree, A Mortal Flower, and The Birdless Summer), plus her slim earlier autobiography, Destination Chungking (1942) that remain my favorites among her work.
With the background of this literary immersion and the resulting basic knowledge of China’s role during WWII, I was eager to read Two Sons of China. The book was both gripping and informative. The excellent writing carried me past the initial fighting sequence (not generally my favorite stuff) and into the story of the American Mission to the Communist Capitol of Yenan in 1944. The main theme centers on the loyalty and friendship that develops during battle. The two main characters, one an American born in China to a missionary family and the other a Chinese intellectual turned communist fighter, are drawn with empathy that does not shy away from their flaws and weaknesses. The actual historical figures, both American and Chinese (including Mao Tse-tung) are painted with all their strengths and flaws, including, in the case of the Communist leadership, their use of fear, torture, and political murder.
The author of Two Sons of China, Andrew Lam MD, is a distinguished retinal surgeon. His first published book, Saving Sight, is an Amazon best-seller about the heroes who have changed the way we see. He grew up listening to his two grandfathers talk about their youth in China before the revolution and later learned about the American “Dixie Mission” to the Communist headquarters in Yenan. These two things are what inspired him to write Two Sons of China. I highly recommend this eye-opening novel about America’s forgotten role in China during WWII.
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