Emily Hahn – författare

A woman who lived life on her own terms, Hahn was an unknown and struggling writer when Congo Solo was published. Here - restored to the form she had intended - is Hahn's unforgettable narrative, a vivid, provocative, and at times disturbing first-hand account of the racism, brutality, sexism, and exploitation that were everyday life realities under Belgium's iron-fisted colonial rule. Until now, the few copies of Congo Solo in circulation were the adulterated version, which the author altered after pressure from her publisher and threats of litigation from the main character's family. This edition makes available a lost treasure of women's travel writing that shocks and impresses, while shedding valuable light on the gender and race politics of the period.

A woman who lived life on her own terms, Hahn was an unknown and struggling writer when Congo Solo was published. Here - restored to the form she had intended - is Hahn''s unforgettable narrative, a vivid, provocative, and at times disturbing first-hand account of the racism, brutality, sexism, and exploitation that were everyday life realities under Belgium''s iron-fisted colonial rule. Until now, the few copies of Congo Solo in circulation were the adulterated version, which the author altered after pressure from her publisher and threats of litigation from the main character''s family. This edition makes available a lost treasure of women''s travel writing that shocks and impresses, while shedding valuable light on the gender and race politics of the period.

A woman who lived life on her own terms, Hahn was an unknown and struggling writer when Congo Solo was published. Here - restored to the form she had intended - is Hahn''s unforgettable narrative, a vivid, provocative, and at times disturbing first-hand account of the racism, brutality, sexism, and exploitation that were everyday life realities under Belgium''s iron-fisted colonial rule. Until now, the few copies of Congo Solo in circulation were the adulterated version, which the author altered after pressure from her publisher and threats of litigation from the main character''s family. This edition makes available a lost treasure of women''s travel writing that shocks and impresses, while shedding valuable light on the gender and race politics of the period.

A candid, rollicking literary travelogue from a pioneering New Yorker writer, an intrepid heroine who documented China in the years before World War II. Deemed scandalous at the time of its publication in 1944, Emily Hahn’s now classic memoir of her years in China remains remarkable for her insights into a tumultuous period and her frankness about her personal exploits. A proud feminist and fearless traveler, she set out for China in 1935 and stayed through the early years of the Second Sino-Japanese War, wandering, carousing, living, loving—and writing.   Many of the pieces in China to Me were first published as the work of a roving reporter in the New Yorker. All are shot through with riveting and humanizing detail. During her travels from Nanjing to Shanghai, Chongqing, and Hong Kong, where she lived until the Japanese invasion in 1941, Hahn embarks upon an affair with lauded Chinese poet Shao Xunmei; gets a pet gibbon and names him Mr. Mills; establishes a close bond with the women who would become the subjects of her bestselling book The Soong Sisters; battles an acquired addiction to opium; and has a child with Charles Boxer, a married British intelligence officer.   In this unflinching glimpse of a vanished world, Hahn examines not so much the thorny complications of political blocs and party conflict, but the ordinary—or extraordinary—people caught up in the swells of history. At heart, China to Me is a self-portrait of a fascinating woman ahead of her time.

Author of such celebrated and acclaimed works as The Soong Sisters, China to Me, and Fractured Emerald: Ireland, Emily Hahn has been called by the New Yorker “a forgotten American literary treasure.” Now Hahn is reintroduced to a new generation of readers, bringing to light her richly textured voice and unique perspective on a world that continues to exist through both history and fiction.It was August 2nd, 1946, when we arrived. The war was not so long over that we had shed every reminder of it, even in New York, and the Queen Mary was still fitted up as a troopship. From this opening, Emily Hahn’s England to Me takes readers into a world filled with uncertainty as she tries to settle into the English countryside after her harrowing years in the Far East. From Southampton to London, here is a portrait of a country in flux, and of a woman of strong insight determined to find her place in it.

Author of such celebrated and acclaimed works as The Soong Sisters, China to Me, and Fractured Emerald: Ireland, Emily Hahn has been called by the New Yorker “a forgotten American literary treasure.” Now Hahn is reintroduced to a new generation of readers, bringing to light her richly textured voice and unique perspective on a world that continues to exist through both history and fiction. In a sense, Hong Kong Holiday is a supplement to Emily Hahn’s China to Me, marked by the illustrative anecdote and incisive wit that spotlighted the most important incidents of her life during the long months from the Japanese capture of Hong Kong until she was finally returned home on the second voyage of the exchange ship, Gripsholm. Presented here is a crystal-clear picture of the oppressed city—its life in the bazaars, beauty shops, restaurants, and dens. Among the rich and among the poor, in hospitals and in internment camps, Hong Kong Holiday is exotic, intriguing, and all too real.

A novel about an enterprising Shanghai streetwalker from the “American literary treasure” and author of the memoir China to Me (The New Yorker).
   Meet Miss Jill, a young woman pursuing the oldest profession in prewar Shanghai. Fifteen, blonde, and full of personality, Jill begins her career as a Japanese banker’s mistress. Soon after, she becomes a European prostitute in the house of Annette, and believes that any day now she’ll be married to a nobleman. But none of her adventures prepare Miss Jill for the war and her subsequent internment.   An early feminist and an American journalist who traveled to the Belgian Congo and China in the 1930s, Emily Hahn wrote more than fifty books, both fiction and nonfiction; this is Hahn at her touching and entertaining best, portraying an exotic place in a dramatic time with great authenticity and empathy.  

Mr. Pan is no highly-placed official. Mr. Pan is the Mr. Smith of China—an ordinary man with extraordinary reach—and China, like America, depends as much on its Mr. Pans as on its powerful and world famous officials. Here, in a series of linked vignettes, you''ll get a glimpse into a new way of life—Mr. Pan at work, Mr. Pan with his father, Mr. Pan with his docile wife, Pei-yu. It is a rare glimpse into a time and place, as only Emily Hahn''s perceptive pen could produce. This is fiction as delightful and penetrating as any truth.Author of such celebrated and acclaimed works as The Soong Sisters, China to Me, and Fractured Emerald, Hahn has been called "a forgotten American literary treasure" (The New Yorker).

A fascinating memoir by a free-spirited New Yorker writer, whose wanderlust led her from the Belgian Congo to Shanghai and beyond.Originally published in 1970, under the title Times and Places, this book is a collection of twenty-three of her articles from the New Yorker, published between 1937 and 1970. Well reviewed upon first publication, the book was re-published under the current title in 2000 with a foreword by Sheila McGrath, a longtime colleague of hers at the New Yorker, and an introduction by Ken Cuthbertson, author of Nobody Said Not to Go: The Life, Loves and Adventures of Emily Hahn. One of the pieces in the book starts with the line, "Though I had always wanted to be an opium addict, I can''t claim that as a reason why I went to China." Hahn was seized by a wanderlust that led her to explore nearly every corner of the world. She traveled solo to the Belgian Congo at the age of twenty-five. She was the concubine of a Chinese poet in Shanghai in the 1930s—where she did indeed become an opium addict for two years. For many years, she spent part of every year in New York City and part of her time living with her husband, Charles Boxer, in England. Through the course of these twenty-three distinct pieces, Emily Hahn gives us a glimpse of the tremendous range of her interests, the many places in the world she visited, and her extraordinary perception of the things, large and small, that are important in a life.

A revolutionary woman for her time and an enormously creative writer, Emily Hahn broke all of the rules of the nineteen-twenties including traveling the country dressed as a boy, working for the Red Cross in Belgium, being the concubine to a Shanghai poet, using opium, and having an illegitimate child. Hahn kept on fighting against the stereotype of female docility that characterized the Victorian Era and was an advocate for the environment until her death at age ninety-two. Emily Hahn is the author of CHINA TO ME, a literary exploration of her trip to China.

“If the story of the Soong family were told as fiction, people would say it was fascinating but too improbable. . . . A dramatic human chronicle . . . engrossing.” —The New York Times Book Review   In the early twentieth century, few women in China were to prove so important to the rise of Chinese nationalism and liberation from tradition as the three extraordinary Soong sisters—Eling, Chingling and Mayling—who would each marry historic figures. Told with wit and verve by New Yorker correspondent Emily Hahn, a remarkable woman in her own right, the biography of the Soong sisters reveals the story of China through both World Wars. It also chronicles the changes to Shanghai as they relate to a very eccentric family that had the courage to speak out against the ruling regime. Greatly influencing the history of modern China, they interacted with their government and military to protect the lives of those who could not be heard, and appealed to the West to support China during the Japanese invasion.   “[A] first-rate reportorial job on three distinguished women.” —Kirkus Reviews   “A spirited, well-informed book . . . a fascinating saga . . . Hahn skillfully interweaves the personal material which she has collected in abundance with some indispensable background knowledge of Chinese history.” —The Atlantic

The New Yorker contributor''s fascinating account of Irish history from legendary kings to occupation, independence, and modern political strife.The author of The Soong Sisters and China to Me turns her observant and discerning eye to the oft‑troubled land of Ireland. In a magisterial combination of historical research and keen personal observation on the scene, Emily Hahn gives us a view of the whole of Ireland and its history, from the legends of the great kings and the heroes of myth to the Saint who converted Ireland to Christianity many centuries ago to modern times. She details the trials and tribulations of a conquered people as they rebel against their exploiters and fight and die for independence, eventually achieving their goal but only at the price of a bitter partition that haunts the country to this day. Hahn''s breadth of vision and acute sense of the telling detail paints the big picture while also pinpointing the small but important moments. Perhaps the subtitle manages to encapsulate it all: Ireland, Its Legends, Its History, Its People from St. Patrick to Bernadette Devlin.

An in-depth biography of the towering 20th-century Chinese military and political figure who led the government, first on the mainland and then in exile in Taiwan, from the acclaimed New Yorker correspondent who lived in China when he was head of stateIn 1911, 24-year-old Chiang Kai-shek was an obscure Chinese student completing his military training in Japan, the only country in the Far East with a modern army. By 1928, the soldier who no one believed would ever amount to anything had achieved world fame as the leader who broke with Russia and released the newly formed Republic of China from Communist control. Emily Hahn''s eye-opening book examines Chiang''s friendship with revolutionary Sun Yat-sen and chronicles his marriage to the glamorous, American-educated Soong May-ling, who converted him to Christianity and helped him enact social reforms. As the leader of the Nationalist Party, Chiang led China for over two decades: from 1927 through the Japanese invasion, World War II, and the civil war that ended with a Communist victory in 1949. After defeat, he retreated with his government to Taiwan where he continued to lead as president of the exiled Republic of China until his death in 1975. Famous for forging a new nation out of the chaos of warlordism, he was an Allied leader during the Second World War, only to end up scorned as an unenlightened dictator at the end of his life. Casting a critical eye on Sino-American relations, Hahn sheds new light on this complex leader who was one of the most important global political figures of the last century.

A fascinating journey through 100 years of Chinese history, beginning with the historic Treaty of Nanking and ending with Mao Tse-tung''s creation of the Chinese People''s Republic, by the the acclaimed New Yorker correspondent who lived in China from 1935 to 1941 For centuries, China''s code of behavior was incomprehensible to Westerners whom the Chinese viewed as irredeemable barbarians. Presenting historical events with an immediacy that makes you feel as if you were there, Hahn takes readers through isolationist China''s difficult and often costly adaptations to the invasions of Western "foreign devils", —from the Treaty of Nanking in 1842, which gave the West access to five 5 of China''s eastern ports, to the British colonization of Hong Kong, the rise of the tea trade, the Opium Wars, the arrival of Christian missionaries, and the Boxer Rebellion. Hahn also illuminates the revolutionary movement led by Sun Yat-sen, the overthrow of the Ch''ing Dynasty, the escalating tensions between the Communist and Nationalist parties, and the Japanese invasion on the eve of World War II—which Hahn witnessed firsthand. The final chapters cover the civil war, which ended with Chairman Mao''s formation of the People''s Republic of China and Chiang Kai-shek''s retreat to Taiwan. With an insider''s knowledge of Chinese culture and the politics, Hahn delivers a sharply observant book that illuminates an unforgettable era in China''s tumultuous past.

Memoirs of an exotic, unconventional life in Asia and Great Britain in the 1930s and 1940s, from a colorful, prolific New Yorker writer ahead of her time. China to Me: A proud feminist and fearless traveler, Emily Hahn set out for China in 1935 and stayed through the early years of the Second Sino-Japanese War, wandering, carousing, living, loving—and writing. During her travels from Nanjing to Shanghai, Chongqing, and Hong Kong, where she lived through the Japanese invasion in 1941, Hahn embarks upon an affair with lauded Chinese poet Shao Xunmei; gets a pet gibbon and names him Mr. Mills; establishes a close bond with the women who would become the subjects of her bestselling book The Soong Sisters; battles an acquired addiction to opium; and has a child with Charles Boxer, a married British intelligence officer. Deemed scandalous at the time of its publication in 1944, Hahn''s now classic memoir remains remarkable for her insights into a tumultuous period and frankness about her personal exploits. "The keen prose is suffused with an intellectual freedom and freshness of perspective that vivify the concerns of a long-gone world." —Publishers Weekly Hong Kong Holiday: The same day they attacked Pearl Harbor, the Japanese invaded the British colony of Hong Kong, which they would occupy until their surrender in 1945. Emily Hahn was living there with her newborn daughter. The baby''s father, Charles Boxer, the local head of British army intelligence, was imprisoned in a POW camp. With sharp observations and incisive wit, Hahn gives a vivid picture of her time in the oppressed city—from daily life in the bazaars, beauty shops, restaurants, and opium dens to the crowded hospitals and internment camps—until she fled the city in 1943 with her daughter. England to Me: Following the end of the Second World War, Hahn married Charles Boxer—fortunately reports of his beheading by the Japanese had been greatly exaggerated—and they returned to his inherited estate in the English countryside. From Southampton to London, Hahn offers a fascinating portrait of a postwar country in flux, as well as her own struggles to adjust to a more sedate English country life after her harrowing but exciting years in the Far East.

Chinese history is brought to vivid life by the "quintessential New Yorker narrator" and author of The Soong Sisters, who lived in China from 1935 to 1941 (The New York Times). Chiang Kai-Shek: As the head of the Nationalist Party, Chiang led the Republic of China for over two decades from 1927 through the Japanese invasion, World War II, and the civil war that ended with a Communist victory in 1949. After defeat, he retreated with his government to Taiwan, where he continued to lead as president of the exiled Republic of China. Published in 1955, this in-depth biography by legendary New Yorker writer Emily Hahn examines Chiang''s childhood in southern China, his relationship with revolutionary Sun Yat-Sen, his rise to power, and his battles with the Japanese Imperial Army and Communist forces led by Mao Zedong, as well as chronicling his marriage to the glamorous, American-educated Soong May-ling (the youngest of the influential siblings portrayed in Hahn''s The Soong Sisters), who converted her husband to Christianity and helped him enact social reforms. Casting a critical eye on Sino-American relations, Hahn sheds new light on a complex leader, who was one of the most important global political figures of the last century. "[Hahn] writes . . . with an impassioned warmth . . . colorful reading . . . An irreparable past is echoed in the forlorn note sounded here." —Kirkus Reviews China Only Yesterday, 1850–1950: With an insider''s knowledge of Chinese culture and politics, Hahn delivers a sharply observant book that illuminates a century of China''s tumultuous history. Her "absorbing" history begins with the Treaty of Nanking, which gave Western powers access to five of China''s eastern ports, and covers the British colonization of Hong Kong, the rise of the tea trade, the Opium Wars, the arrival of Christian missionaries, the Boxer Rebellion, the revolutionary movement led by Sun Yat-Sen, the overthrow of the Ch''ing Dynasty, the escalating tensions between the Communist and Nationalist parties, and the Japanese invasion on the eve of World War II—which Hahn experienced firsthand (Kirkus Reviews). The final chapters cover the civil war, which ended with Chairman Mao''s formation of the People''s Republic of China and Chiang Kai-shek''s retreat to Taiwan. "[An] observant, satisfying book." —Kirkus Reviews

Portraits of pivotal American feminists and three of the most powerful women in twentieth-century China by the “quintessential New Yorker narrator” (The New York Times).  Once Upon a Pedestal: After living an unconventional and exotic life for decades, New Yorker writer Emily Hahn was in her late sixties when this book was first published in 1974. As the Women’s Movement continued to gain momentum, Hahn penned this “essential history of the remarkable women who led the feminist movement in America.” Her “excellent and eminently readable” biographical sketches include Susan B. Anthony, Clara Barton, Fanny Wright, the Grimké sisters, Margaret Sanger, Jane Addams, Victoria Woodhull, Harriet Martineau, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Betty Friedan (Publishers Weekly).   “[The] quintessential New Yorker narrator whose adventures over the last forty years have intrigued, amused and educated . . . Emily Hahn is, herself, a role model. It is fitting and felicitous for her to give us an armchair guide to strong-minded American women.” —The New York Times  The Soong Sisters: In 1935, intrepid journalist and fearless feminist Emily Hahn traveled to China and sent dispatches to the New Yorker. Through her lover, the Chinese poet Shao Xunmei, she met and established close bonds with three of the most instrumental women in twentieth-century Chinese history, who happened to be sisters. The Soong family was arguably the most influential family in Shanghai, even more so as eldest sister Eling married finance minister H. H. Kung; middle sister Chingling married Sun Yat-Sen, the founding father and first president of the Republic of China; and youngest sister Mayling married Chiang Kai-Shek, who succeeded Sun as the leader of the Republic of China. Hahn’s chronicle of the family’s history, written while bombs were falling during the Second Sino-Japanese War, and published in 1941, while Hahn was still in Japanese-occupied Hong Kong, is a vivid, comprehensive, and uniquely personal account of the sisters who would become known to the world as Madame Kung, Madame Sun, and Madame Chiang Kai-Shek.   “First rate reportorial job on three distinguished women . . . [a] tribute to their work and their individual heroisms.” —Kirkus Reviews

Emily Hahn was a woman ahead of her time, graced with a sense of adventure and a gift for living. Born in St. Louis in 1905, she crashed the all-male precincts of the University of Wisconsin geology department as an undergraduate, traveled alone to the Belgian Congo at age 25, was the concubine of a Chinese poet in Shanghai, bore the child of the head of the British Secret Service before World War II, and finally returned to New York to live and write in Greenwich Village. In this memoir, first published as essays in The New Yorker, Hahn writes vividly and amusingly about the people and places she came to know and love - with an eye for the curious and a heart for the exotic.