About the book: In the last days of World War Two, the Japanese
occupation of Manchuria has collapsed. As the Chinese move in, the elders of
the Japanese settler village of Sakito decide to preserve their honour by
killing all the villagers in an act of mass suicide. Only 16-year-old Tatsuru
escapes. But Tatsuru’s trials have just begun, and she falls into the hands of
human traffickers. She is sold to a wealthy Chinese family, where she becomes
Duohe – the clandestine second wife to their only son, and the secret bearer of
his children. Against all odds, Duohe and the first wife Xiaohuan put aside
their differences and form an unlikely friendship, united by the unshakeable
bonds of motherhood and family. Spanning several tumultuous decades of Mao’s
rule, Little Aunt Crane is a novel
about love, overcoming adversity, and how humanity endures in the most unlikely
of circumstances.
