An Ethical Literary Criticism of Han Suyin’s Autobiography

"This study of Han Suyin’s autobiography series is most welcome as an exceptional way to evaluate her place as a creative writer. From her first book, Destination Chungking (1942), there was an open self-searching that shone through the first three novels she wrote before she turned to autobiography, as in The Crippled Tree (1965) and its sequels. Her irrational and distinctive China-centred way to confront the East-West divides in modern Asian history spurred an ethical imagination and illuminated the mixed identity developments more prevalent today."

Wang Gungwu, AO, CBE; Professor, National University of Singapore

"Han Suyin's oeuvre has drawn considerable attention in the past, but Florence Kuek's concise study manages to revitalise this interest by productively focusing on the ethical dilemmas and choices faced by this cosmopolitan writer whose political sympathies would often court controversy."

Galin Tihanov, FBA, MAE; George Steiner Professor of Comparative Literature, Queen Mary University of London

"Most studies into literature discussed Han Suyin’s works using postcolonial or gender perspectives. Reading Dr. Han Suyin’s works through the lens of ethical literary criticism offers new insights."

Nie Zhenzhao, FBA, MAE; Professor and Yunshan Chair on World Literature and Languages at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, China

"In this thought-provoking study, Florence Kuek illuminates Han Suyin’s extraordinary trajectory—from marginalized outsider to celebrated world citizen—against the backdrop of China’s turbulent twentieth-century transformations. With analytical rigor, Kuek reexamines Han’s autobiographical oeuvre, revealing how she confronted and navigated the era’s entrenched misogyny, racial bigotry, and geopolitical upheavals. A vital read for scholars and critics alike, this book challenges prevailing literary and sociopolitical assessments, calling for a necessary recalibration of how we interpret a writer’s moral and ideological stance within their historical milieu."

Andrea Riemenschnitter, Chair Professor of Modern Chinese Language and Literature and Deputy Director of the Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies, University of Zurich

"For many of us who grew up in the late 1980s and 1990s, Han Suyin’s autobiography was an essential part of our reading on China, a country still largely inaccessible then and when books on China were still scarce. In this book, Dr. Kuek relives those memories about Han Suyin and her world. A significant contribution to the literary criticism of autobiographical works and memoirs."

Danny Tze-ken Wong; Professor cum Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, Universiti Malaya

"With a delicate touch and rigorous academic approach, An Ethical Literary Criticism of Han Suyin’s Autobiography places Han Suyin’s autobiography under the framework of ethical literary criticism, revealing the ethical dilemmas, identity issues, and profound contemplation on the “legitimacy” embedded in her works. The book offers in-depth analyses of Han Suyin’s sense of self amidst complex Sino-Western cultural contexts."

Su Hui, Professor of Chinese & Literature cum Director of the International Centre for Ethical Literary Criticism, Centre China Normal University; Chief Editor, Foreign Literature Studies