A Memoir of an Extraordinary Young Woman’s
Life in Hong Kong, China, the South Pacific
and POW Camp
Ansie Lee Sperry's beautiful and witty memoir combines passages from her personal diaries, historical research, photos and sketches to portray the fascinating life of a woman who lived in challenging times. Ansie grew up in a prominent Hong Kong family, one of fourteen children in a household with four mothers. Sent to England for her education at the age of nine, she returned to Hong Kong after her father's murder. When WWII broke out, she left her comfortable life in Hong Kong society to volunteer for the war effort in the interior of China. She went on to travel throughout the South Pacific until the war caught up with her in the Philippines, where she was interned in a Japanese POW camp. It was there that she fell in love with her future husband.
Ansie crossed paths with many famous people, including the English author Rumer Godden, General Joseph “Vinegar Joe” Stilwell and his family; Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, his wife Madame Chiang (Soong May-ling) and the Soong sisters; W.H. Donald, an Australian journalist and advisor to Chiang; and New Zealand Prime Minister Peter Fraser.
Ansie Lee Sperry was born in 1914, the Year of the Tiger.
Life in Hong Kong, China, the South Pacific
and POW Camp
Ansie Lee Sperry's beautiful and witty memoir combines passages from her personal diaries, historical research, photos and sketches to portray the fascinating life of a woman who lived in challenging times. Ansie grew up in a prominent Hong Kong family, one of fourteen children in a household with four mothers. Sent to England for her education at the age of nine, she returned to Hong Kong after her father's murder. When WWII broke out, she left her comfortable life in Hong Kong society to volunteer for the war effort in the interior of China. She went on to travel throughout the South Pacific until the war caught up with her in the Philippines, where she was interned in a Japanese POW camp. It was there that she fell in love with her future husband.
Ansie crossed paths with many famous people, including the English author Rumer Godden, General Joseph “Vinegar Joe” Stilwell and his family; Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, his wife Madame Chiang (Soong May-ling) and the Soong sisters; W.H. Donald, an Australian journalist and advisor to Chiang; and New Zealand Prime Minister Peter Fraser.
Ansie Lee Sperry was born in 1914, the Year of the Tiger.
