Among the White Moon Faces: An Asian-American Memoir of Homelands

by Shirley Geok-Lin Lim

Shirley Geok-lin Lim’s memoir is a courageously frank and deeply affecting account of a Malaysian girlhood and of the making of an Asian-American woman, writer, and teacher. With insight, candor, and grace, Lim reveals the material poverty and violence of her childhood in colonized and then war-torn Malaysia after her father’s business fails and her mother abandons the family, leaving Shirley to travel the road toward womanhood alone. Lim’s decision in 1968 to leave Malaysia and the man she loves for a Fulbright Scholarship at Brandeis University marks a crucial turning point in her life. Grappling to secure a place for herself in the United States, Lim is often caught between the stifling traditions of the old world and the harsh challenges of the new. But throughout her journey, she is sustained by her “warrior” spirit. Very gradually, and often painfully, she moves from a numbing alienation as a dislocated Asian woman to a new sense of identity as an Asian American woman: professor, wife, mother of a son she determines to raise as an American, and, above all, an impassioned writer.


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Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Asian American, Biography, Grad School

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Lim is a professor in the English Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She has also taught internationally at the National University of Singapore, the National Institute Education of Nanyang Technological University, and was the Chair Professor at the University of Hong Kong where she also taught poetry and creative writing. She has authored several books of poems, short stories, and criticism, and serves as editor and co-editor of numerous scholarly works. Lim is a cross-genre writer, although she identifies herself as a poet.

Reviews

[Sandra]

Read part of it for CMLIT101

[Regina Ibrahim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Worth reading. Among an early book by Asian writers residing in America that i read in the 90s.

[Atikah Wahid · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really relieved when I finished this book because it is a heavy one. Even though it's less than 350 pages, this book is dense and the narrative changes gears all the time. One minute, she's talking about her childhood, the next about racism in higher education institutions, the next loneliness in America. It's not an easy read, it's definitely a "writerly" book where it appeals to the writer in you. Her writing is great and beautiful, stunning in some instances. I absolutely love the parts about her youth in Malaysia and definitely proud that an English Literature student from our soil could reach as far as she does. I live vicariously through her writings about studying English Literature in American universities. It's interesting that the subtitle of this book on Goodreads is "An Asian-American Memoir of Homelands" but my copy says "Memoirs of a Nyonya Feminist". The reason why I didn't grade this higher is because it is a mental workout and at times, very frustrating. As it tends to swim in and out of various topics, it is difficult to recall a specific moment within the book that discusses a specific thing. To be fair, it is a memoir and a person's life is hardly easy to be categorised and summed up. Its sober and somber tone also makes this book a difficult one to swallow. The writings about her parents borders on voyeurism and definitely makes my own Asian upbringing uncomfortable. Still, do we have a fearless Malaysian writer who could write unabashingly like this? I am undecided whether to score this 3 stars or 4 stars but Shirley Lim is a definite gem in our local literature sphere and should be celebrated nationwide.

[Jaymee Goh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shirley Lim's poem "Monsoon History" was a high school read, so for my qualifying exam on Malaysian literature my professor handed this to me. I'd intended on reading it, just not so soon. It unfolds much the way the rest of her writing does: quietly, punctuated by moments of revelation and turmoil. It invites comparison from every young aspiring Asian academic, especially once who leaves her home country for a Western institution--the configurations of race and gender relations are articulated in a clear manner that makes the book a quick, but still thought-provoking, read.

[alyaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

forgot to update so here it is. last read of 2025. its chalk full of stories about shirley lim's struggles and trauma navigating such a convoluted life to begin with, and her immigration to the US further complicated that, yet what i gained after finishing was a sense of inspiration and admiration more than anything, of her continuous courage to battle for spaces especially in American literature academia. i may still be comfortable with calling Malaysia my one and only homeland now, but in the future if i were to choose another homeland, her memoir is perfect preparation for what i can expect. not to mention that her writing flows like water, and i blew through this within a couple days (also because its for my woman's lit class assignment due in a couple hours lol) this memoir definitely feels like her form of reconciliation with her identity and the lack of concrete definition, of which the instability of that would make some people spiral and lose their footing. absolutely gorgeous, but i definitely wished by the end it was a bit more fleshed out, and she expands on her current feelings instead of the somewhat abrupt ending (to me) although i understand she is still not done navigating the landscape of diasporic liminality, so the ending is completely justifiable on that front.

[Arthur · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read especially for lovers of memoirs!
Almost every line invites careful introspection, and the poetic comparisons are dreamy, starry and brilliant. What an enlightening and engrossing read! I felt engulfed by the writer's emotions.
I'm fortunate to have stumbled upon this rare gem.

The sheer amount of effort and time it must take, where every sentence feels masterfully crafted, carefully considered, and every word feels weighted and charged, this feels a work of genius!

My short comments do no justice to this masterpiece!
Read it!

[Anis Shahira · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this memoir. Personally, it is very well-descriptive writing by Shirley herself. There were a lot of dilemmas and scenes depicting women being somehow discriminated in the Asian context. Definitely recommended for reading!

[nico · Rating 3 out of 5]

such beautiful language and depictions of malaysia. the love that lim has for home is so apparent, even as she recounts the colonial history and subsequent political and racial atmosphere that drove her abroad. i think observing post colonial malaysia through her accounts gives me a better understanding of the malaysian diaspora, of the malaysia that my parents and grandparents knew, and the reasons why they left. it was also fascinating to see what malaya was like right after decolonization, and how the following construction of a malaysian nation state affected the lives of individuals excluded from the national narrative

her accounts of the lucid afternoons in unbearable humidity, the extended family home with 1837472 cousins, the isolation from your own blood because of lost dialects, the diasporic experience of rushing back to hopefully catch an elder’s last moments, were so familiar and it was the first time i’ve seen these experiences (especially in a malaysian-chinese-peranakan context) captured in literature

at times i did find myself losing track of the timeline as lim often jumps from story to story in a non-sequential manner (esp towards the beginning, from the middle-end it’s pretty easy to follow). but i think the sheer number of events happening at the same time in her childhood explains this

[Stacy Gleiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rich and raw

This is a memoir full of dichotomies— a richly described childhood reflected upon in the face of a adult life as an immigrant in an American diorama of sorts.

[Egon Lass · Rating 5 out of 5]

Without a role model in sight, Shirley Geok-Lin Lim became a role model for others. Her life was no picnic: a childhood of grinding poverty, parental and institutional abuse, an ambiguous and alienated relationship to her parents. After years of impressive achievements, many told her that they wanted to be like her. But that would not be a simple matter, because Shirley Lim was gifted from the beginning, and largely unrecognized as such, until her many milestone journeys were impossible to ignore. Her memoir is cerebral and synthetic, and fully deserves the accolades of the National Book Award. What made me resonate with this book was the many parallels I saw to my own life; abusive childhood, alienation from parents, emigration to the USA, the feeling of being forever the Alien, a life spent as a nomad. The last phrase in the book is hopeful: “I am moving home.” It is too optimistic for me, but I hope that she has realized her goal.

[lynne fireheart · Rating 1 out of 5]

One word: b l e a h! Read this because my mother thought I would relate to the memoirs of a Chinese Malaysian who ended up marrying an American gweilo. Instead I was totally put off by a book that I would label "self-involved". But I concede that for those who have not much exposure to Asia / Malaysia, this is as good (bad?) a book as any to get a feel for how things were in the early days of Malaya/Malaysia from a non-Malay perspective.

[Ricky · Rating 3 out of 5]

great book, but not super memorable. maybe that's because I read most of it in one day. in any case, it has beautiful descriptions and language, as well as on-point critical analysis within historical moments that mean more than those moments. the strongest point of the book and its central theme is colonialism. I recommend.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed learning about Malaysia in the mid 20th century. I also enjoyed reading about her experiences as an ethnic Chinese intelligent woman in Malaysia and as an immigrant in the United States and as a feminist scholar. I need to read some of her poetry.

[Kataklicik · Rating 2 out of 5]

I waver between giving this book 2 or 3 stars.

Oh well.