Author of such celebrated and acclaimed works as The Soong Sisters, China to Me, and Fractured Emerald: Ireland, Emily Hahn has been called by the New Yorker “a forgotten American literary treasure.” Now Hahn is reintroduced to a new generation of readers, bringing to light her richly textured voice and unique perspective on a world that continues to exist through both history and fiction.
In a sense, Hong Kong Holiday is a supplement to Emily Hahn’s China to Me, marked by the illustrative anecdote and incisive wit that spotlighted the most important incidents of her life during the long months from the Japanese capture of Hong Kong until she was finally returned home on the second voyage of the exchange ship, Gripsholm. Presented here is a crystal-clear picture of the oppressed city—its life in the bazaars, beauty shops, restaurants, and dens. Among the rich and among the poor, in hospitals and in internment camps, Hong Kong Holiday is exotic, intriguing, and all too real.