The Bitter Sea : Coming of Age in a China Before Mao

Born near the beginning of World War II, Li Na was the youngest son of a wealthy Chinese government official. He saw his father jailed for treason and his family's fortunes dashed when Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists came to power in 1945. He watched from his aunt's Shanghai apartment as the Communist army seized the city in 1948. He experienced the heady materialism of the decadent foreign "white ghosts" in British Hong Kong and starved within the harsh confines of a Communist reform school. Over the course of twenty-one tumultuous years, he went from Li Na, the dutiful Chinese son yearning for a stern, manipulative father's love, to Charles, an independent Chinese American seeking no one's approval but his own. Lyrical and luminous, intense and extraordinary, The Bitter Sea is an unforgettable true story of a young man, his father, and his country. In the tradition of THE KILLING CLUB, CHARM! is the fantastically entertaining novel written by the popular ALL MY CHILDREN (AMC) main character Kendall Hart, Erica Kane's daughter, and will be integrated into the show as Kendall’s character ‘writes’ and ‘publishes’ this book.Harley Wilkins is in her prime: 30-years-old, living in Manhattan, and working tirelessly to make her cosmetics company, Flair, a success. As she works to introduce her first perfume, multitudes of complications begin to infiltrate Harley’s life. Trying to get things done at work, she constantly has to play babysitter to her partner Parker, who is little more than a partying socialite who used her nepotism to get undeserved equal-footing with Harley at the top of the company. She relies on the comic relief and smart perspective of her delightfully flamboyant friend, confidante, and co-worker Justin who helps Harley keep her head on straight amidst the drama that is her life. After being informed by a gleeful Parker of her boyfriend Marcus’ infidelity, Harley meets the intriguing and successful Brad—but her hope for pleasurable preoccupation is extinguished when she is confronted with a startling truth about the woman she had always believed to be her mother. Torn between reconciling with a cheating boyfriend or taking a chance on new love, trying to make sense of the new developments regarding her family, and all the while toiling endlessly to make her perfume launch a triumph, Harley’s open heart and ability to trust is tried and tested as she is incessantly betrayed. A chaotic chain of events ensues—brimming with scandal, back-stabbing, and even a kidnapping—all the scintillating components necessary to make this immensely engaging story the ultimate soap opera tale! A haunting and illuminating true story of growing up in the turbulent early years of modern ChinaIn this exceptional memoir, Charles N. Li brings into focus the growth pains of a nation undergoing torturous rebirth and offers an intimate understanding of the intricate, subtle, and yet all-powerful traditions that bind the Chinese family.Born near the beginning of World War II, Li Na was the youngest son of a wealthy Chinese government official. By the time he was twenty-one, he had witnessed enough hardship, hope, and tremendous change to last a lifetime. Li saw his family's fortunes dashed when Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists came to power in 1945, transforming his father from a powerful official to a prisoner jailed for treason. He survived a year in a dangerous Nanjing slum and watched from his aunt's Shanghai apartment as the Communist army marched in and seized the city in 1948. He experienced both the heady materialism of the decadent foreign "white ghosts" in British Hong Kong and the crippling starvation within the harsh confines of a Communist reform school. He went from being Li Na—the dutiful Chinese son yearning for a harsh, manipulative father's love—to Charles, an independent Chinese American seeking no one's approval but his own.Lyrical and luminous, intense and extraordinary, The Bitter Sea is an unforgettable tale of one young man and his country. This haunting, illuminating memoir tells the remarkable true story of a young Chinese mans coming-of-age during the tumultuous early years of the Peoples Republic of China In this exceptional personal memoir, Charles N. Li brings into focus the growth pains of a nation undergoing torturous rebirth and offers an intimate understanding of the intricate, subtle, and yet all-powerful traditions that bind the Chinese family. Born near the beginning of World War II, Li Na was the youngest son of a wealthy Chinese government official. He saw his father jailed for treason and his family's fortunes dashed when Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists came to power in 1945. He watched from his aunt's Shanghai apartment as the Communist army seized the city in 1948. He experienced the heady materialism of the decadent foreign "white ghosts" in British Hong Kong and starved within the harsh confines of a Communist reform school. Over the course of twenty-one tumultuous years, he went from Li Na, the dutiful Chinese son yearning for a stern, manipulative father's love, to Charles, an independent Chinese American seeking no one's approval but his own. Lyrical and luminous, intense and extraordinary, The Bitter Sea is an unforgettable tale of one young man and his country. The Author Documents His Childhood In Post-world War Ii China As The Son Of A Wealthy Government Official, The Crippling Dissolution Of His Family's Wealth When The Nationalists Came To Power, And His Efforts To Become An Independent Chinese American. Nanjing, 1944-1945 -- The Mansion -- The Slum -- Shanghai, 1946-1950 -- The Metropolis -- The Fall Of Shanghai -- Hong Kong, 1950-1957 -- Fathers And Sons -- Blind Ambition -- Teen Years In Hong Kong -- A Hidden Agenda -- Guangzhou, Communist China, 1957-1958 -- The Reform School -- A Rude Awakening -- Hong Kong, 1958-1961 -- Vulgar Materialism. Charles N. Li. In a spin-off tale from the popular daytime series "All My Children," Kendall Hart, the daughter of Erica Kane, pens the story of Manhattan resident Avery Wilkins, whose ambition to promote her cosmetics company launches a series of high-stakes adventures