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Daughters of the Bamboo Grove: From China to America, a True Story of Abduction, Adoption, and Separated Twins
In 2000, a Chinese woman gave birth to twins in a bamboo grove, trying to avoid detection by the government because she already had two daughters. Two years later, an American couple travelled to Shaoyang to adopt a Chinese toddler they thought had been abandoned.
Their understanding had been that China's brutal one-child policy was leading to hundreds of abandoned girls, desperate for the care of adopted parents. What they didn't know - and what award-winning journalist Barbara Demick uncovered in 2007, while working as a correspondent in Beijing - was that their daughter had been snatched from her beloved family and her identical twin. Under China's one-child policy hundreds of poor Chinese were giving up their children due to soaring fines and threats of violence. More sinister still, international demand for adoptees was sky-rocketing, and local officials were forcibly seizing children and trafficking them to orphanages, who were selling them abroad.
Daughters of the Bamboo Grove tells the gripping story of separated twins, their respective fates in China and the USA, and Barbara Demick's role in reuniting them against huge odds. Painting a rich portrait of China's history and culture, it asks questions about the roots, impact and consequences of China's one-child policy, the ethics of international adoption, and, ultimately, the assumptions and narratives we hold about the quality of lives lived in the East and the West.
Their understanding had been that China's brutal one-child policy was leading to hundreds of abandoned girls, desperate for the care of adopted parents. What they didn't know - and what award-winning journalist Barbara Demick uncovered in 2007, while working as a correspondent in Beijing - was that their daughter had been snatched from her beloved family and her identical twin. Under China's one-child policy hundreds of poor Chinese were giving up their children due to soaring fines and threats of violence. More sinister still, international demand for adoptees was sky-rocketing, and local officials were forcibly seizing children and trafficking them to orphanages, who were selling them abroad.
Daughters of the Bamboo Grove tells the gripping story of separated twins, their respective fates in China and the USA, and Barbara Demick's role in reuniting them against huge odds. Painting a rich portrait of China's history and culture, it asks questions about the roots, impact and consequences of China's one-child policy, the ethics of international adoption, and, ultimately, the assumptions and narratives we hold about the quality of lives lived in the East and the West.
Hardcover
First published May 20, 2025
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About the author
Barbara Demick
5 books1,380 followersBarbara Demick is an American journalist. She is the author of Logavina Street: Life and Death in a Sarajevo Neighborhood (Andrews & McMeel, 1996). Her next book, Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea, was published by Spiegel & Grau/Random House in December 2009 and Granta Books in 2010.
Demick was correspondent for the Philadelphia Inquirer in Eastern Europe from 1993 to 1997. Along with photographer John Costello, she produced a series of articles that ran 1994-1996 following life on one Sarajevo street over the course of the war in Bosnia. The series won the George Polk Award for international reporting, the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for international reporting and was a finalist for the Pulitzer in the features category. She was stationed in the Middle East for the newspaper between 1997 and 2001.
In 2001, Demick moved to the Los Angeles Times and became the newspaper's first bureau chief in Korea. Demick reported extensively on human rights in North Korea, interviewing large numbers of refugees in China and South Korea. She focused on economic and social changes inside North Korea and on the situation of North Korean women sold into marriages in China. She wrote an extensive series of articles about life inside the North Korean city of Chongjin. In 2005, Demick was a co-winner of the American Academy of Diplomacy's Arthur Ross Award for Distinguished Reporting & Analysis on Foreign Affairs. In 2006, her reports about North Korea won the Overseas Press Club's Joe and Laurie Dine Award for Human Rights Reporting and the Asia Society's Osborn Elliott Prize for Excellence in Asian Journalism. That same year, Demick was also named print journalist of the year by the Los Angeles Press Club. In 2010, she won the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction for her work, Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea. The book was also nominated for the U.S.'s most prestigious literary prize, the National Book Award.
Demick was a visiting professor at Princeton University in 2006-2007 teaching Coverage of Repressive Regimes through the Ferris Fellowship at the Council of the Humanities. She moved to Beijing for the Los Angeles Times in 2007 and became Beijing bureau chief in early 2009. Demick was one of the subjects of a 2005 documentary Press Pass to the World by McCourry Films.
Demick was correspondent for the Philadelphia Inquirer in Eastern Europe from 1993 to 1997. Along with photographer John Costello, she produced a series of articles that ran 1994-1996 following life on one Sarajevo street over the course of the war in Bosnia. The series won the George Polk Award for international reporting, the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for international reporting and was a finalist for the Pulitzer in the features category. She was stationed in the Middle East for the newspaper between 1997 and 2001.
In 2001, Demick moved to the Los Angeles Times and became the newspaper's first bureau chief in Korea. Demick reported extensively on human rights in North Korea, interviewing large numbers of refugees in China and South Korea. She focused on economic and social changes inside North Korea and on the situation of North Korean women sold into marriages in China. She wrote an extensive series of articles about life inside the North Korean city of Chongjin. In 2005, Demick was a co-winner of the American Academy of Diplomacy's Arthur Ross Award for Distinguished Reporting & Analysis on Foreign Affairs. In 2006, her reports about North Korea won the Overseas Press Club's Joe and Laurie Dine Award for Human Rights Reporting and the Asia Society's Osborn Elliott Prize for Excellence in Asian Journalism. That same year, Demick was also named print journalist of the year by the Los Angeles Press Club. In 2010, she won the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction for her work, Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea. The book was also nominated for the U.S.'s most prestigious literary prize, the National Book Award.
Demick was a visiting professor at Princeton University in 2006-2007 teaching Coverage of Repressive Regimes through the Ferris Fellowship at the Council of the Humanities. She moved to Beijing for the Los Angeles Times in 2007 and became Beijing bureau chief in early 2009. Demick was one of the subjects of a 2005 documentary Press Pass to the World by McCourry Films.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 530 reviews
May 27, 2025
Having been a part of the China international adoption program for almost 30 years, both as an adoptive parent and a researcher, I approached Demick's book with trepidation. Many books have been written about the China adoption program, some excellent, others not so much. I hoped that Demick would bring new observations, a fresh perspective, and information that would bring a new understanding of the issues with China's international adoption program.
She delivered in spades.
"Daughter's of the Bamboo Grove" is an exquisite read. Using the story of two twins separated by ruthless extralegal enforcement of China's "One Child Policy" by the local Family Planning Bureau, Barbara weaves a gorgeous narrative of history, culture, and compelling anecdotes that will bring the reader much understanding of China, both today and before the "great moderning". As familiar as I am with the subject matter, I found myself gleaning fresh understanding at every turn.
If you want to understand China with more nuance, have a better sense of the experiences of rural Chinese families, and understand a little better the complexities of growing up a Chinese adoptee in Western society, this book is a must-read.
She delivered in spades.
"Daughter's of the Bamboo Grove" is an exquisite read. Using the story of two twins separated by ruthless extralegal enforcement of China's "One Child Policy" by the local Family Planning Bureau, Barbara weaves a gorgeous narrative of history, culture, and compelling anecdotes that will bring the reader much understanding of China, both today and before the "great moderning". As familiar as I am with the subject matter, I found myself gleaning fresh understanding at every turn.
If you want to understand China with more nuance, have a better sense of the experiences of rural Chinese families, and understand a little better the complexities of growing up a Chinese adoptee in Western society, this book is a must-read.
July 29, 2025
I was torn on this book. I think the writing was effective and clear. I was interested in the story and think it was told in a way that worked. I felt like the author was way too much a part of the book, she kept inserting herself in the story. I also found there to be an underlying anti-Chinese sentiment throughout the book. That the American way was better or more pure or good. I wished the author had questioned adoptions more and pushed back on some of the righteous talking points. I also found there was an exoticization of the Chinese people that wasn't great. So like interesting story, but maybe not the right person/way to tell it.
August 30, 2025
3.5 stars
Barbara Demick is one of my favorite journalists-turned-author; Nothing to Envy, her account of life in North Korea through the tales of six defectors, is an incredible work and the book that convinced me to start reading nonfiction on my own time. Eat the Buddha, her more recent work about Tibet, was also excellent and eye-opening. I am also very interested in messy real-life family stories, adoption exposés, and the like, and have read most of the popular nonfiction works mentioned in the text (I particularly recommend The Child Catchers).
So naturally I was thrilled to learn Demick had written this book: a story of twin girls born in China, one of whom was taken from her family via a duplicitous international adoption. However, I do think it’s not quite as strong as Demick’s other work: the focus is maybe a little narrow, causing the final third to feel a bit padded, and the reality of everyone in this book coming as a package deal rather than volunteering individually for the project means they can be more reticent than the people usually profiled in journalistic nonfiction.
It’s still a fascinating book though, bringing to light a particularly terrible situation in the poor, mountainous areas of Hunan province, where local officials seized babies and young children from their families in the early 2000s to sell them to orphanages for international adoption. There’s a confluence of factors here: fewer abandoned babies to feed the adoption market, even while each adoption brought thousands of dollars to an orphanage (China, like many other countries, has since shut down its international adoption program); misinformation in western countries about the number of orphans needing to be adopted, causing prospective parents to pursue it as a humanitarian act; China’s one child policy (also now rescinded), in which heavy fines were levied on parents of multiples, but with so many exceptions and paperwork requirements that officials could ultimately just act with impunity toward families lacking money, education and connections. Chinese law did not in fact provide for confiscation of babies for violation of the policy, but the families didn’t know that.
In this particular case, the child seized was nearly two years old and an identical twin. In an attempt to evade the scrutiny of Family Planning (trust the Chinese government to make anything a bad word!), while raising money for the penalties, her parents left her with an aunt and uncle who were raising her as their own. After a couple of prior kidnapping attempts (one foiled by the aunt and uncle’s young sons, who grabbed the baby and jumped out the window), thugs barged into the house and grabbed the child from her aunt. Despite the efforts of many parents suffering similar kidnappings, this was the last the family heard for years—till the author came to interview them when the girls were nine, and was able to track down the missing twin through photos posted online by her adoptive mother in Texas. The adoptive family’s initial response was to hide and refuse all contact, so there was no communication until the girls were in their late teens, at which point everyone traveled to Hunan to get to know the birth family.
It's a fascinating story, and I appreciated the author’s additional research on the larger social and political issues, as well as other families experiencing similar trauma. She winds up very involved with this family—much more than she intended—serving (at the American twin’s request) as intermediary for early communications, and ultimately arranging, accompanying and having her news organization fund the American family’s trip to China, which the family couldn’t afford themselves. (While at the time of the adoption the American family was far better off than the Chinese family, 16 years later this is no longer true.) This gives readers a front row seat, and everyone in both families seemed to appreciate the author’s role and to be treated fairly by the text. Still, it’s a bit uncomfortable, as I sometimes got the vibe that people—the twins, particularly—were allowing the author to write about them because they needed her for practical reasons rather than because they were enthusiastic about sharing their story. Sometimes Demick gives her own observations of how they’re reacting to events, rather than their version of what they thought or felt, implying that they chose not to share (or that she chose not to ask, feeling perhaps that she was already too close to the situation). I did also think there was a little more detail on that trip than was strictly necessary, though it was still interesting to read.
That said, I do think some critics of the book misunderstand that Demick is a journalist here to provide facts, from which you can draw your own conclusions, rather than a social media personality here to stoke outrage. No, she doesn’t condemn the American family, but she doesn’t defend them either. I appreciated that she centers the Chinese family, beginning with the twins’ birth and following their quest for answers, with the adoptive parents introduced nearly halfway through (as opposed to, say, Finding Fernanda, a similar book that devoted far more space to an American woman than her actual role justified). I also think it’s fair to say the author gets into some ethically murky territory, which she herself acknowledges.
At any rate, overall a well-researched, engaging and highly readable book that I would happily recommend to those interested. But not my first recommendation either from Demick or about problems in international adoption—that would be Nothing to Envy and The Child Catchers, respectively.
Barbara Demick is one of my favorite journalists-turned-author; Nothing to Envy, her account of life in North Korea through the tales of six defectors, is an incredible work and the book that convinced me to start reading nonfiction on my own time. Eat the Buddha, her more recent work about Tibet, was also excellent and eye-opening. I am also very interested in messy real-life family stories, adoption exposés, and the like, and have read most of the popular nonfiction works mentioned in the text (I particularly recommend The Child Catchers).
So naturally I was thrilled to learn Demick had written this book: a story of twin girls born in China, one of whom was taken from her family via a duplicitous international adoption. However, I do think it’s not quite as strong as Demick’s other work: the focus is maybe a little narrow, causing the final third to feel a bit padded, and the reality of everyone in this book coming as a package deal rather than volunteering individually for the project means they can be more reticent than the people usually profiled in journalistic nonfiction.
It’s still a fascinating book though, bringing to light a particularly terrible situation in the poor, mountainous areas of Hunan province, where local officials seized babies and young children from their families in the early 2000s to sell them to orphanages for international adoption. There’s a confluence of factors here: fewer abandoned babies to feed the adoption market, even while each adoption brought thousands of dollars to an orphanage (China, like many other countries, has since shut down its international adoption program); misinformation in western countries about the number of orphans needing to be adopted, causing prospective parents to pursue it as a humanitarian act; China’s one child policy (also now rescinded), in which heavy fines were levied on parents of multiples, but with so many exceptions and paperwork requirements that officials could ultimately just act with impunity toward families lacking money, education and connections. Chinese law did not in fact provide for confiscation of babies for violation of the policy, but the families didn’t know that.
In this particular case, the child seized was nearly two years old and an identical twin. In an attempt to evade the scrutiny of Family Planning (trust the Chinese government to make anything a bad word!), while raising money for the penalties, her parents left her with an aunt and uncle who were raising her as their own. After a couple of prior kidnapping attempts (one foiled by the aunt and uncle’s young sons, who grabbed the baby and jumped out the window), thugs barged into the house and grabbed the child from her aunt. Despite the efforts of many parents suffering similar kidnappings, this was the last the family heard for years—till the author came to interview them when the girls were nine, and was able to track down the missing twin through photos posted online by her adoptive mother in Texas. The adoptive family’s initial response was to hide and refuse all contact, so there was no communication until the girls were in their late teens, at which point everyone traveled to Hunan to get to know the birth family.
It's a fascinating story, and I appreciated the author’s additional research on the larger social and political issues, as well as other families experiencing similar trauma. She winds up very involved with this family—much more than she intended—serving (at the American twin’s request) as intermediary for early communications, and ultimately arranging, accompanying and having her news organization fund the American family’s trip to China, which the family couldn’t afford themselves. (While at the time of the adoption the American family was far better off than the Chinese family, 16 years later this is no longer true.) This gives readers a front row seat, and everyone in both families seemed to appreciate the author’s role and to be treated fairly by the text. Still, it’s a bit uncomfortable, as I sometimes got the vibe that people—the twins, particularly—were allowing the author to write about them because they needed her for practical reasons rather than because they were enthusiastic about sharing their story. Sometimes Demick gives her own observations of how they’re reacting to events, rather than their version of what they thought or felt, implying that they chose not to share (or that she chose not to ask, feeling perhaps that she was already too close to the situation). I did also think there was a little more detail on that trip than was strictly necessary, though it was still interesting to read.
That said, I do think some critics of the book misunderstand that Demick is a journalist here to provide facts, from which you can draw your own conclusions, rather than a social media personality here to stoke outrage. No, she doesn’t condemn the American family, but she doesn’t defend them either. I appreciated that she centers the Chinese family, beginning with the twins’ birth and following their quest for answers, with the adoptive parents introduced nearly halfway through (as opposed to, say, Finding Fernanda, a similar book that devoted far more space to an American woman than her actual role justified). I also think it’s fair to say the author gets into some ethically murky territory, which she herself acknowledges.
At any rate, overall a well-researched, engaging and highly readable book that I would happily recommend to those interested. But not my first recommendation either from Demick or about problems in international adoption—that would be Nothing to Envy and The Child Catchers, respectively.
June 28, 2025
Barbara Demick's text was decently-written but off-putting to me. I'm not the target audience of a book about the "dark sides" of adoption from China, but the focus on the human interest aspects of transracial adoption from China was exploitative and uncomfortable to read. One of the twins was raised as a conservative Christian homeschooler in near isolation; how could she fully consent to sharing her story when she and her fellow adopted sister were so deliberately sheltered? Why didn't Demick delve into the fact that the twins' reunion was broadly shared on mass media, given that the thrust of her book alleged to be addressing corruption and the denial of autonomy?
Demick works to clarify that her research and participant observation in this story are above board and ethical, but it felt gross to read her musings on what the Chinese family (including the twin who was able to stay with the family) and their American counterpart were thinking and feeling. The white savior tone of the entire narrative is undeniable, even when Demick engages in (infrequent) self-examination. While she expands on individual, cultural, and political Chinese self-determination, there is something in her detached tone that feels itchy & unpleasant.
I did appreciate Demick's sociopolitical dives into the broader context of Chinese society during the One Child Policy and the examinations of “Western” adoptive parents' motives. I wish Demick had more strongly focused on the complicity and racism inherent in adopting families’ decisions to adopt internationally (& transracially) from China. I Demick's absolution of the American twin's adoptive mother's emotional & ethical responsibilities to her adopted daughters disturbed me.
As an Indigenous scholar, I spend a lot of time thinking about consent and the ways in which etic perspectives inherently deny individual autonomy. Through my lens as both a casual reader, and as an academic with adjacent research interests, Demick clearly evaded true investigation into the myriad, intersecting power dynamics inherent in the system of exporting and importing human children. Daughters of the Bamboo Grove reads as an apologist tome intended to ultimately absolve white adoptive families of their sins. Demick's engagement with the longer term outcomes of transracially, internationally adults was meagre and dismissive. The chapter addressing adoptee self-determination was bizarre and somewhat condescending.
For me, the most interesting parts of this book examined the policies that led to the widespread trafficking of children (both legal and extra-legal). I understand that the human interest aspects (sharing the stories of specific affected families) may be critical to engaging a broader audience of readers, but I didn't care for the journalistic, exploitative bent to this book *at all.*
As an undergrad and young adult (around 20 years ago), I spent a lot of time reading blogs written by prospective adoptive families of kids in China. There was something in witnessing the experience of identity alienation and the intentional building of families that appealed to me at the time. I had a huge list of bookmarks (and later an RSS feed, when that tech became available) and I read these families' blogs as if I were devouring the latest issue of People magazine.
I'm grateful to bloggers like Amber Decker (American Family) and Dawn Friedman (This Woman's Work) for exposing me to narratives of the harm inherent in all adoption through their own critical self-examination. They both showed me how my casual browsing of family stories was complicit in the fetishization of Asian girls and contributed to a culture where children's stories are shared without their consent. I often muse about what became of the girls whose adoptions I anticipated so eagerly, but I am also aware of the gross aspect of my own gaze in that regard. Decker and Friedman showed me the necessity of respecting the agency and privacy of all children, particularly children growing up with trauma.
Their work opened my eyes to the ways in which mainstream adoption narratives silence the voices of adoptees and birth families. Sadly, Daughters of the Bamboo Grove: From China to America, a True Story of Abduction, Adoption, and Separated Twins, for all its efforts to overcome that trend, fetishizes the stories of adoptees, birth families, and their trauma.
This book is elevated trauma p*rn. I can't recommend it.
Demick works to clarify that her research and participant observation in this story are above board and ethical, but it felt gross to read her musings on what the Chinese family (including the twin who was able to stay with the family) and their American counterpart were thinking and feeling. The white savior tone of the entire narrative is undeniable, even when Demick engages in (infrequent) self-examination. While she expands on individual, cultural, and political Chinese self-determination, there is something in her detached tone that feels itchy & unpleasant.
I did appreciate Demick's sociopolitical dives into the broader context of Chinese society during the One Child Policy and the examinations of “Western” adoptive parents' motives. I wish Demick had more strongly focused on the complicity and racism inherent in adopting families’ decisions to adopt internationally (& transracially) from China. I Demick's absolution of the American twin's adoptive mother's emotional & ethical responsibilities to her adopted daughters disturbed me.
As an Indigenous scholar, I spend a lot of time thinking about consent and the ways in which etic perspectives inherently deny individual autonomy. Through my lens as both a casual reader, and as an academic with adjacent research interests, Demick clearly evaded true investigation into the myriad, intersecting power dynamics inherent in the system of exporting and importing human children. Daughters of the Bamboo Grove reads as an apologist tome intended to ultimately absolve white adoptive families of their sins. Demick's engagement with the longer term outcomes of transracially, internationally adults was meagre and dismissive. The chapter addressing adoptee self-determination was bizarre and somewhat condescending.
For me, the most interesting parts of this book examined the policies that led to the widespread trafficking of children (both legal and extra-legal). I understand that the human interest aspects (sharing the stories of specific affected families) may be critical to engaging a broader audience of readers, but I didn't care for the journalistic, exploitative bent to this book *at all.*
As an undergrad and young adult (around 20 years ago), I spent a lot of time reading blogs written by prospective adoptive families of kids in China. There was something in witnessing the experience of identity alienation and the intentional building of families that appealed to me at the time. I had a huge list of bookmarks (and later an RSS feed, when that tech became available) and I read these families' blogs as if I were devouring the latest issue of People magazine.
I'm grateful to bloggers like Amber Decker (American Family) and Dawn Friedman (This Woman's Work) for exposing me to narratives of the harm inherent in all adoption through their own critical self-examination. They both showed me how my casual browsing of family stories was complicit in the fetishization of Asian girls and contributed to a culture where children's stories are shared without their consent. I often muse about what became of the girls whose adoptions I anticipated so eagerly, but I am also aware of the gross aspect of my own gaze in that regard. Decker and Friedman showed me the necessity of respecting the agency and privacy of all children, particularly children growing up with trauma.
Their work opened my eyes to the ways in which mainstream adoption narratives silence the voices of adoptees and birth families. Sadly, Daughters of the Bamboo Grove: From China to America, a True Story of Abduction, Adoption, and Separated Twins, for all its efforts to overcome that trend, fetishizes the stories of adoptees, birth families, and their trauma.
This book is elevated trauma p*rn. I can't recommend it.
June 30, 2025
Barbara Demick is an American journalist who spent years living in China as the LA Times' Beijing bureau chief. Her 2025 book Daughters of the Bamboo Grove is an exposé of one extreme consequence of China's now-defunct One Child Policy (~1979-2015), where it appears that at least several thousand 'excess' children were seized by the One Child Policy enforcers against their (often rural) birth families' wishes, falsely rebranded as orphans or abandoned, and adopted by unsuspecting families in Western countries, with the profits from these adoptions lining bureaucrats' pockets and incentivizing people to snitch to get a cut. If you've already read Kathryn Joyce's The Child Catchers: Rescue, Trafficking, and the New Gospel of Adoption, you'll already understand that adoption is a mired issue, in that many adoptees aren't orphans with no potential family caretakers or intentionally abandoned, and that in many non-Western cultures, the concept of adoption being a permanent removal of a child from their home is not understood or adequately explained. Demick's book is even more disturbing in the stories she shares about many poor and rural Chinese families in the late 90s and 00s who had wanted and well-cared-for children forcibly stolen from them.
The central story of this book is a case of identical twin girls born in 2000, babies #3 and #4 to a rural family who kept trying to have a son. The older twin was stolen and adopted by a well-intentioned but not well-off family in Texas, while the younger twin remained with her family of origin. Demick became enmeshed in the story when she learned the older twin's American identity in the late '00s, and eventually she served as a conduit to help reunite the twins as teenagers through messaging apps, and later, in-person in China in 2019 pre-COVID.
I think this book will enlighten readers as well as make them uncomfortable (the sign of a very good book for me). Demick's involvement in the story is a bit morally gray, which she acknowledges, though I think given the tricky and politically sensitive circumstances, she did a good job navigating things.
My statistics:
Book 200 for 2025
Book 2126 cumulatively
The central story of this book is a case of identical twin girls born in 2000, babies #3 and #4 to a rural family who kept trying to have a son. The older twin was stolen and adopted by a well-intentioned but not well-off family in Texas, while the younger twin remained with her family of origin. Demick became enmeshed in the story when she learned the older twin's American identity in the late '00s, and eventually she served as a conduit to help reunite the twins as teenagers through messaging apps, and later, in-person in China in 2019 pre-COVID.
I think this book will enlighten readers as well as make them uncomfortable (the sign of a very good book for me). Demick's involvement in the story is a bit morally gray, which she acknowledges, though I think given the tricky and politically sensitive circumstances, she did a good job navigating things.
My statistics:
Book 200 for 2025
Book 2126 cumulatively
March 27, 2025
This is the true story of twin daughters, the third and fourth children born to a family during China's One Child policy. Wanted by their parents, who live in a rural area but are unable to pay the exorbitant fees to local officials, one daughter stays with her parents while the other lives with an aunt nearby. The daughter living with the aunt is kidnapped by local officials, trafficked to an orphanage and adopted out to a family in America (Texas). Demick writes a searing indictment of the One Child policy, detailing many similar cases and the heartbroken parents who, contrary to the popular western idea of the time that said they abandoned daughters so that they could have sons, desperately wanted their children. Over ten years later, Demick, trusted by both the families in China and Texas, discovers the lost twin and works to reunite the two families. Demick's writing is narrative nonfiction at its best and I devoured this powerful, highly readable book in one day.
October 4, 2025
記者芭芭拉．德米克這次帶著讀者回到中國，由一對因為一胎化政策而失散的雙胞胎的故事，探討中國的一胎化政策與跨國領養議題。芳芳與雙潔兩姊妹出生於2000年的湖南邵陽的鄉村家庭，父母一方長期在外地工作，而因為在一胎化政策下，超生兒女的父母將面臨的是政府追捕與巨額罰款，她們的母親選擇在隱密的竹林裡生下她們。芳芳在命運輾轉之下，在大概兩歲時被拐走，後來更被美國的一對夫婦收養，芳芳的養父母（與其他參與跨國收養的父母）原以為這是項善舉，但後來他們才發現，原來跨國收養背後有著一條完整的產業鏈，而芳芳的父母從未停止找尋過她。在2017年，芭芭拉終於得到在美國的芳芳（已改名為以斯帖）一家的同意，開始協助兩姊妹的跨國團圓。在網路的連結下，姊妹兩人開始有互動，而以斯帖與養母瑪莎、同是被收養的姊姊在2019年啟程前往湖南，終於在失散多年後「團圓」。
我覺得整本書讀來其實很不容易，主要是一胎化政策與跨國收養都是兩個很棘手且敏感的議題，更何況書中的故事更涉及人口拐賣等黑暗面，情緒上是需要時間慢慢消化的。雖然書中以芳芳與雙潔兩姊妹的故事為主軸，但是芭芭拉．德米克的記者專業讓她帶來的內容不僅於此，書中更提及現代中國的歷史、一胎化政策的背景與影響、以及跨國領養的隱憂。整體來說，這本作品一如芭芭拉的前幾本作品一樣出色，但這本書帶給我的衝擊又更大，因為身為同樣生於這段時期的女孩，她們的故事離我又更近一些，也帶來不少直得思考的議題。
我覺得整本書讀來其實很不容易，主要是一胎化政策與跨國收養都是兩個很棘手且敏感的議題，更何況書中的故事更涉及人口拐賣等黑暗面，情緒上是需要時間慢慢消化的。雖然書中以芳芳與雙潔兩姊妹的故事為主軸，但是芭芭拉．德米克的記者專業讓她帶來的內容不僅於此，書中更提及現代中國的歷史、一胎化政策的背景與影響、以及跨國領養的隱憂。整體來說，這本作品一如芭芭拉的前幾本作品一樣出色，但這本書帶給我的衝擊又更大，因為身為同樣生於這段時期的女孩，她們的故事離我又更近一些，也帶來不少直得思考的議題。
November 28, 2025
4.5 stars.
Terrific book on several levels. The main story of the abduction is well told and heartbreaking. The author poses many ethical dilemmas throughout.
Demick occasionally zooms out to discuss larger topics such as the one child policy and its implications then returns to the story of the titular daughters. The topical discussions augment the story very well and are eye-opening. The less said about the particulars the better, it's best not to come to the book with too much information.
This is the second book I've read by this author, the other one being Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea. Both are easy to read and fascinating in a sad and curious way.
Terrific book on several levels. The main story of the abduction is well told and heartbreaking. The author poses many ethical dilemmas throughout.
Demick occasionally zooms out to discuss larger topics such as the one child policy and its implications then returns to the story of the titular daughters. The topical discussions augment the story very well and are eye-opening. The less said about the particulars the better, it's best not to come to the book with too much information.
This is the second book I've read by this author, the other one being Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea. Both are easy to read and fascinating in a sad and curious way.
November 7, 2025
這本書講的是中國一胎化政策下與國際收養的問題，裡面觸及很多中國的國家政策、文化認同的議題。書裡的時代不是遙不可及的過去，而是在我有生之年發生的事情，以前認識到的一胎化政策遠遠不是寥寥五個字就可以理解，背後有很多現實的問題，所以才有這本書的誕生。
雖然處理沉重的議題，但整本書很好讀，有溫馨也有省思，當然也有一些能令人難過的部分，但這本書整體很不錯。
很久違沒有看完一本書了，終於呀！！！
雖然處理沉重的議題，但整本書很好讀，有溫馨也有省思，當然也有一些能令人難過的部分，但這本書整體很不錯。
很久違沒有看完一本書了，終於呀！！！
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June 8, 2025Perhaps just as those who have adopted internationally have mixed feelings on what unfolded especially with the stealing of children, I am conflicted on how this book should be rated. Demick did a noble thing to bring this subject to light and to affect the lives of the Hunan province whose children were stolen from them. What I did not appreciate was some of the tangents she went on. I think her judging Esther's life as less than because she worked at a grocery store was elitist at the most generous. She also warned against generalities and then made them. At times, she was a bit too editorial. I also think the concept of a child's gender in China is very complicated as I have learned in ancient times they wanted a girl first to help raise the son so If a son was first they killed it. When the one-child policy was stopped, I said it wont solve the problem. I do think the book is extremely worthwhile and then I would suggest a person keep learning about China. I suppose if one should come away with any thought it is that Communism is a horrible form of government.
June 4, 2025
edit to say this may be more 4.5/5 rounded up than a pure 5.
i still plan to add more at some point.
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i was able to attend one of the author's book tour events and she read a passage aloud and i did almost weep in public tysm, everything is fine :)
filed under: books that make me feel incredibly seen and understood in ways only other chinese adoptees will understand
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i had some hesitations going into this, because as a general rule i'm apprehensive of anyone not adopted writing about adopted people. however, i fell into this story so quickly. barbara demick writes so concisely and so intimately, using her expertise as a journalist to explore a decade of china's one child policy.
at the heart of her reporting is the zhen family, whose twin daughters were originally separated to protect them and disguise their twin status. but when the government catches wind of their illegal births, one twin is abducted by the state and made a paper orphan* in order to be adopted by a family in the united states. as demick uncovers this horrific practice, she writes about the efforts families take to try to get their children back as well as the barriers in place that make these efforts so futile. she conducts extensive interviews with villagers and details multiple, horrific stories of state-sanctioned abduction. unbeknownst to the zhen family, their missing daughter was adopted by an american couple and was raised in a small town in texas. when demick realizes that finding the missing twin may be possible, she embarks on a journey that reshapes the lives of both families.
i actually cannot type more about this book without crying atm, so this is all you're getting. more soon when i can type coherently, maybe
(*a paper orphan is exactly what it sounds like: a child presented as an orphan via falsified documents)
i still plan to add more at some point.
---
i was able to attend one of the author's book tour events and she read a passage aloud and i did almost weep in public tysm, everything is fine :)
filed under: books that make me feel incredibly seen and understood in ways only other chinese adoptees will understand
---
i had some hesitations going into this, because as a general rule i'm apprehensive of anyone not adopted writing about adopted people. however, i fell into this story so quickly. barbara demick writes so concisely and so intimately, using her expertise as a journalist to explore a decade of china's one child policy.
at the heart of her reporting is the zhen family, whose twin daughters were originally separated to protect them and disguise their twin status. but when the government catches wind of their illegal births, one twin is abducted by the state and made a paper orphan* in order to be adopted by a family in the united states. as demick uncovers this horrific practice, she writes about the efforts families take to try to get their children back as well as the barriers in place that make these efforts so futile. she conducts extensive interviews with villagers and details multiple, horrific stories of state-sanctioned abduction. unbeknownst to the zhen family, their missing daughter was adopted by an american couple and was raised in a small town in texas. when demick realizes that finding the missing twin may be possible, she embarks on a journey that reshapes the lives of both families.
i actually cannot type more about this book without crying atm, so this is all you're getting. more soon when i can type coherently, maybe
(*a paper orphan is exactly what it sounds like: a child presented as an orphan via falsified documents)
September 16, 2025
This was a sobering read. It's nonfiction, written by a journalist who dives deep into the human cost of China's one-child policy, especially for rural families. This was sad. The brutality of the enforcement was often violent and without mercy. Families were also hit hard with stiff fines they couldn't possibly afford. This forced one rural mother to hideout until she give birth in a bamboo grove to twin girls, giving us the title.
The book exposes how some government officials turned the policy into a money-making scheme seizing unwanted daughters (and even the wanted ones) and then profiting from international adoptions, collecting "stacks of crisp $100 bills." Families were torn apart.
The author focuses on a pair of twin girls separated as infants. One remains in China, the other is adopted by an American family thinking they adopted an "abandoned" child. She was never abandoned, but stolen. This is their story.
The author shed light on many things. I liked how she dissected the way this tragedy affected the rural farmers who were often uneducated and powerless. She also described the political and ecomonic climate during this time which made such policies possible. Such a sad situation. Truly a heartbreaking time in Chinese history.
She also showed how the policy was implemented, how it was eventually rolled back and the long term consequences China now faces specifcally around a shrinking population and gender imbalance (way too many boys and not enough girls to marry.) Again, heartbreaking.
This tugged on the heartstrings but overall, it felt well researched and well-organized, so 4 stars.
The book exposes how some government officials turned the policy into a money-making scheme seizing unwanted daughters (and even the wanted ones) and then profiting from international adoptions, collecting "stacks of crisp $100 bills." Families were torn apart.
The author focuses on a pair of twin girls separated as infants. One remains in China, the other is adopted by an American family thinking they adopted an "abandoned" child. She was never abandoned, but stolen. This is their story.
The author shed light on many things. I liked how she dissected the way this tragedy affected the rural farmers who were often uneducated and powerless. She also described the political and ecomonic climate during this time which made such policies possible. Such a sad situation. Truly a heartbreaking time in Chinese history.
She also showed how the policy was implemented, how it was eventually rolled back and the long term consequences China now faces specifcally around a shrinking population and gender imbalance (way too many boys and not enough girls to marry.) Again, heartbreaking.
This tugged on the heartstrings but overall, it felt well researched and well-organized, so 4 stars.
July 28, 2025
The first half of this book does a great job of presenting both a heart breaking and heart warming story while also incorporating interesting facts on the history of China. Things really get off track the second half of the book. It turns into the author coming off as intrusive into the family’s life and what is clearly just her interpretation and assumptions of Chinese culture and the thoughts and feelings of the parents and twins. The author also goes on a random rant about the study of twins around the world with a sad attempt to bring in nature versus nurture. She also goes on a coronavirus rant and how it impacted one of her solo trips to China (news flash no one cares! We all lived through it and all you had to do was mention it for its significance to the timeline of events). She also copy and pasted sentences of information from the start of the book later on in the book which irked me (her or the editor couldn’t put in more effort to paraphrase?!). She brings up some really interesting points about the conflicting aspects around international adoption at the end which helps bring the book back on track.
July 24, 2025
Absolutely fantastic. Never read a Demick book I didn’t love.
October 22, 2025
Loved it, so insightful and really enjoyed the way it was written. Want to learn more about China and its history now
December 9, 2025
What an incredible story! This book is a great read if you want to learn about China’s one child policy and how it affected the nation and the thousands of families and kids who were born and forced into adoption. 10/10 recommend
November 22, 2025
An excellent read about the policies and systems in China that spurred the adoption of Chinese babies by Western families over the last few decades.
December 22, 2025
This is a very scary read about the one child policy and international adoption. I want to read more books about adoption now.
August 14, 2025
4.5 Fascinating book about twins separated by adoption in China. The author deftly weaves the politics of China and the story of the families into a gripping narrative. The very last part of the book veers a little into a general discussion of twins, which is also interesting, but felt a little like padding. But overall, it's really an eye opening look into what I had not realized was a tragedy revolving around the international adoption of Chinese girls.
June 13, 2025
As a Chinese adoptee, I really loved this book and the author. It was informative and hopeful during a time of political uncertainty in the world. I liked hearing the amount of research that was done over the course of decades to complete this book. Personally, it was a refreshing read about the one child policy that was honest, but the author also made it very human the way she wove the story of the people affected by this. I'd recommend this book to adoptees and non-adoptees.
June 20, 2025
A great book - anyone can read it. It is a fascinating story and so well researched - people put their heart and souls into this book. Didn’t put it down.
December 22, 2025
4.5
"Daughters of the Bamboo Grove" is an excellent, engrossing, enlightening nonfiction book. It is one of the rare nonfiction books that could hold my full attention on audio because of its personable tone and clear writing/well-organized structure. Usually, my mind wanders when listening to nonfiction. But not with "Daughters of the Bamboo Grove." I was riveted. And it's by Barbara Demick!! I have long claimed her "Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea" as one of my favorite nonfiction books, but I foolishly never thought to look and see what else she had published. Now I have "Eat the Buddha: Life and Death in a Tibetan Town" on my shortlist of nonfiction books to read.
But I doubt "Eat the Buddha" will resonate as much with me as "Daughters of the Bamboo Grave," which felicitously combines several of my obsessions: twins, adoption, and modern Chinese history, particularly the Cultural Revolution (while this book only glancingly covers the Cultural Revolution; its impact is discussed). Demick deftly weaves these three topics together in telling the story of Shuangjie and Esther, identical twins born in China who were separated when Esther was snatched from her family by the Family Planning Commission, which punitively enforced the One Child Policy, and eventually adopted into an American family, who believed she had been abandoned. This main storyline is fascinating and emotional, but I also loved that Demick provided context about things like the history of international adoption (and its many abuses) or the science behind identical twins. I thought the book flowed well, with these "sidebars" happening at very natural points in the narrative.
I thought it was very interesting how involved Demick became in this story and these lives. A news story that started as an assignment became a kind of personal passion project that she didn't intend to publicize or profit from, and now it has become a book, which obviously is monetized. However, from what I could tell, it seemed like everything progressed as ethically as possible, with agreement from all parties about what would be shared and how. I would definitely be curious to know what Esther and Shuangjie and their families think of the book!
Though I listened to the audiobook, which I thought was excellent, I highly recommend that readers at least get a copy of the ebook or physical book because there are pictures, which I really enjoyed.
The story of these lovely young women and their supportive families really moved me. It was especially heartening to see an adoptive mother be so encouraging of her daughter's cross-continental search for answers and biological family. "Daughters of the Bamboo Grove" has also re-whetted my interest in the Cultural Revolution, and I plan to read several more books on the topic soon. "Red Memory" by Tania Branigan was referenced by Demick in "Daughters of the Bamboo Grove," and I added "Life and Death in Shanghai" by Nien Cheng to my TBR. Also, for those interested in the topic of international adoption and its many ethical complications, I highly recommend "The Child Catchers: Rescue, Trafficking, and the New Gospel of Adoption" by Kathryn Joyce, another 4.5 star nonfiction read for me.
"Daughters of the Bamboo Grove" is an excellent, engrossing, enlightening nonfiction book. It is one of the rare nonfiction books that could hold my full attention on audio because of its personable tone and clear writing/well-organized structure. Usually, my mind wanders when listening to nonfiction. But not with "Daughters of the Bamboo Grove." I was riveted. And it's by Barbara Demick!! I have long claimed her "Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea" as one of my favorite nonfiction books, but I foolishly never thought to look and see what else she had published. Now I have "Eat the Buddha: Life and Death in a Tibetan Town" on my shortlist of nonfiction books to read.
But I doubt "Eat the Buddha" will resonate as much with me as "Daughters of the Bamboo Grave," which felicitously combines several of my obsessions: twins, adoption, and modern Chinese history, particularly the Cultural Revolution (while this book only glancingly covers the Cultural Revolution; its impact is discussed). Demick deftly weaves these three topics together in telling the story of Shuangjie and Esther, identical twins born in China who were separated when Esther was snatched from her family by the Family Planning Commission, which punitively enforced the One Child Policy, and eventually adopted into an American family, who believed she had been abandoned. This main storyline is fascinating and emotional, but I also loved that Demick provided context about things like the history of international adoption (and its many abuses) or the science behind identical twins. I thought the book flowed well, with these "sidebars" happening at very natural points in the narrative.
I thought it was very interesting how involved Demick became in this story and these lives. A news story that started as an assignment became a kind of personal passion project that she didn't intend to publicize or profit from, and now it has become a book, which obviously is monetized. However, from what I could tell, it seemed like everything progressed as ethically as possible, with agreement from all parties about what would be shared and how. I would definitely be curious to know what Esther and Shuangjie and their families think of the book!
Though I listened to the audiobook, which I thought was excellent, I highly recommend that readers at least get a copy of the ebook or physical book because there are pictures, which I really enjoyed.
The story of these lovely young women and their supportive families really moved me. It was especially heartening to see an adoptive mother be so encouraging of her daughter's cross-continental search for answers and biological family. "Daughters of the Bamboo Grove" has also re-whetted my interest in the Cultural Revolution, and I plan to read several more books on the topic soon. "Red Memory" by Tania Branigan was referenced by Demick in "Daughters of the Bamboo Grove," and I added "Life and Death in Shanghai" by Nien Cheng to my TBR. Also, for those interested in the topic of international adoption and its many ethical complications, I highly recommend "The Child Catchers: Rescue, Trafficking, and the New Gospel of Adoption" by Kathryn Joyce, another 4.5 star nonfiction read for me.
October 19, 2025
Beautiful, moving story about twins separated at birth and a dedicated journalist that facilitated their reunion. While the going theory is that most baby girls in china were abandoned, some were forcibly taken. This is a deep dive into China’s one child policy. Interesting to realize that all the families adopting children from China (and other poor countries) think they are doing good are part of the problem. And of course, it’s all about money. Written by a journalist, a mix of facts and observations make this very readable. Wishing both girls all the best!!!
December 14, 2025
I enjoyed this book and thought it was really good at discussing the complexity of the families of adopted daughter, those who were adopted, and the families that did adopt. Definitely would recommend this book.
I loved actually knowing the historical and political reasons for WHY the one child policy came to pass. I feel like this is a topic everyone knows of but little know about. As a family scientist, the propaganda and government abuse towards family planning is disgusting and it’s heartbreaking hearing about how many families had beloved children taken from them.
I loved actually knowing the historical and political reasons for WHY the one child policy came to pass. I feel like this is a topic everyone knows of but little know about. As a family scientist, the propaganda and government abuse towards family planning is disgusting and it’s heartbreaking hearing about how many families had beloved children taken from them.
October 31, 2025
Daughters of the Bamboo Grove is a moving and deeply researched nonfiction story about twin girls separated at birth in China during the One-Child Policy—one raised in a rural village, the other adopted in America. Barbara Demick weaves their personal journeys with the larger history of China’s population control and international adoption system. The book is both heartbreaking and eye-opening, revealing how love, loss, and identity cross borders. It’s a powerful, emotional book that blends investigative journalism with human compassion. Perfect if you enjoy real stories about family, culture, and resilience.
November 11, 2025
Overall a great exploration of China’s one child policy and its impact. The story focuses on a set of twins who were separated as infants, with one being kidnapped and adopted out to a Texan family and the other staying with her Chinese family in a rural province. It was an interesting story that could have been better organized imo. Sometimes it felt like there was info dumped in random places and not woven into the story effectively.
December 16, 2025
Definitely my new recommendation for anyone who says they want to read more about the one child policy / population control policies in China. Or international adoptions in general. The (true!) story is incredible and told so well alongside so much helpful context from Chinese history and politics. Interesting for me as someone who researches and talks about this stuff every day, but I think it would also be a captivating read for someone looking for an introduction to this topic!
January 13, 2026
I had read another book by Barbara Demick and was very enthusiastic about this one. Unfortunately I was disappointed. While it is an interesting book and topic, it wasn’t as powerful as I expected it to be. The author inserts herself into the story to a point that I found tiresome. It is easy to read and explains clearly the one child policy of China. It is an important warning about the unseen repercussions of bad public policy, not only in China but universally.
October 1, 2025
In this book, Barbara Demick lays bare the lies, corruption and human trafficking that accompanied international adoption, especially during the era of China’s one-child policy. The author tells the gripping story of twin girls that were separated - one in China and the other in the US - and her role in reuniting them.
November 7, 2025
Non-Fiction November '25 - Book 3
Demick is such a gifted journalist. In this book she breakdown the Chinese "one child" laws and its effect on the people and the economy in the 2000's; and puts a face (faces) by telling the story of a pair of twins, one snatched and adopted out to the US, one remaining with her family in China.
Demick is such a gifted journalist. In this book she breakdown the Chinese "one child" laws and its effect on the people and the economy in the 2000's; and puts a face (faces) by telling the story of a pair of twins, one snatched and adopted out to the US, one remaining with her family in China.
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