Finding Ching Ha

by Maya Fleischmann

In this novel about self-discovery, set in the 1970s, a Russian Jewish couple, living in Hong Kong, adopts a three-year-old Chinese girl named Ching Ha. As Ching Ha navigates family, history and heritage, she must learn how to discover and embrace the complex, multi-layered nuances that shape her identity.
Set against the bustle of Hong Kong's cosmopolitan, powerful "Asian Tiger" economy of the 1970s, Finding Ching Ha's characters are diverse and colorful. This is an intriguing read for lovers of thought-provoking multi-cultural novels.

266 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2021

About the author

Maya Fleischmann is a freelance writer. Her book reviews are published in book industry trade journals, such as Publishers Weekly, BookPage, and Audiofile Magazine. Her stories and articles have appeared in travel and cultural magazines and books, to include Peril and Chicken Soup for the Working Mom’s Soul.

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Maya has lived and traveled overseas extensively. She currently lives in Florida, where the turquoise waters and sunlit skies remind her of her childhood home in Hong Kong. Read more about island talk and travel tales at https://www.turquoisemaya.com/.

When Maya is not writing, reading, or volunteering as a narrator for Learning Ally, or hosting writing groups with Pine Island Writers, she is exploring Florida’s lush landscape and eclectic towns, and sampling new foods. You can read her book blog at https://www.anovelfiend.com/

Reviews

[Jill Dobbe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful and engaging story about a young Chinese girl who finds herself adopted into a new family, a family that is different from her in many ways. It is a story of her life within two cultures, as she tries to come to terms with who she is and where she comes from.

Ching Ha bravely endures a life that is difficult at times. She struggles with all that she has lost while attempting to understand her new culture and family. Although a fictional story, Finding Ching Ha is realistic, heartrending, and emotionally charged in ways that bring to mind the difficult issues and pain that all children who are adopted must go through at some point in their lives.

I highly recommend this book for those adoptees who also find themselves in similar situations.

[Suzesmum · Rating 4 out of 5]

150🇭🇰HONG KONG 🇭🇰It’s always a special treat to read a book written by a friend, and this is my second one this year! I met Maya in 2009-10, when our daughters were in their last year of primary school together. Maya and here family were in Canberra on posting from the USA, and we hit it off immediately. I am drawn to her creative and generous spirit, so when we reconnected last year and she told me she had (finally) published her book, I knew I had to include it in my #readingworldtour. I devoured it. Her writing is simple and beautiful. More a collection of memories than a story, I was drawn into Ching Ha’s world. I hope we get to learn more about her coming of age, and growing up into the amazing women I know Maya is. Please tell me you are working on the next instalment 🙏🏼