Running with the Tiger: A Memoir of an Extraordinary Young Woman's Life in Hong Kong, China, The South Pacific and POW Camp

by Ansie Lee Sperry

Ansie Lee Sperry's beautiful and witty memoir combines passages from her personal diary, 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 Lee Sperry was born in 1914, the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese Zodiac.

284 pages, Paperback

First published May 6, 2009

Reviews

[Robin Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolutely crucial source for me that reveals what it was like to grow up in a wealthy Hong Kong Chinese family in the 1920s. The life the Lees led - and the house they lived in - is vanished now, but this is an incredible and valuable record of that time. 12+

*Please note: this review is meant as a recommendation only. Please do not use it in any marketing material, online or in print, without asking permission from me first. Thank you!*

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book because it was written by a friend's 94-year-old mother. She is an incredible woman, and her story is equally so. Much of the book is taken from journals she kept from her early childhood in a traditional Chinese family, education in England, travels through the South Pacific, and interment in a POW camp during WWII.

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly a slow read, though an interesting look at the prisoner camps, as they were different from the European camps that are more popular for historians. Also nice to hear about their travels in the Pacific.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating story about Ansie Lee Sperry's experiences growing up in Hong Kong and traveling around the world before and during World War II.