Overview

At the age of 14, Sonia Leung was raped by her ping-pong coach. She had moved from China two-and-a-half years earlier to join her family in Hong Kong, but she could not fit in. The family of six lived in a cramped subdivided hut in a Kowloon squatter village but rarely communicated with each other. The difficulties of adjusting to colonial Hong Kong heightened the tensions between her parents. Feeling trapped and unloved, Sonia was too afraid to tell anyone about the rape. She saved money by working part-time at McDonald's and, a year later, she bought a one-way plane ticket to Taipei and ran away from home. The Girl Who Dreamed is a memoir of her childhood in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan – and how, through work and further education, she found her way to an independent life away from the family and world from which she needed to free herself.

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9789887674856

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Reviews

Leung has a remarkably deft hand with scene, dialogue, imagery, and characterization, and writes vividly and beautifully with a strong awareness of class, gender, and justice. She is also remarkably brave in the way she handles exposing her own abuse and family role in the story.--Suzanne Paola, author of Body Toxic: An Environmental Memoir Sonia has woven together her own story of survival, ambition, and self-discovery as a contemporary Chinese woman from a difficult background with a story of family history, one that is particular to her ancestral family's mainland Chinese and overseas Chinese background, coupled with her parents' decision to move to Hong Kong that proves significant, sad and transformative for her and her family.--Xu Xi, author of That Man in Our Lives Sonia's sentences are punchy and detailed, and there is clearly a very powerful story of growth and transformation that parallels and throws light upon China's own journey into the modern world. I thought there were interesting parallels with Sonia and the author of Dream of Red Mansions, and the rare experience in growing up in a place such as the Leung Mansion.--Justin Hill, author of The Drink and Dream Teahouse

Sonia's writing is punchy and detailed, and there is clearly a very powerful story of growth and transformation that parallels and throws light upon China's own journey into the modern world.--Justin Hill, author of The Drink and Dream Teahouse Leung has a remarkably deft hand with scene, dialogue, imagery, and characterization, and writes vividly and beautifully with a strong awareness of class, gender, and justice. She is also remarkably brave in the way she handles exposing her own abuse and family role in the story.--Suzanne Paola, author of Body Toxic: An Environmental Memoir Sonia has woven together her own story of survival, ambition, and self-discovery as a contemporary Chinese woman from a difficult background with a story of family history, one that is particular to her ancestral family's mainland Chinese and overseas Chinese background, coupled with her parents' decision to move to Hong Kong that proves significant, sad and transformative for her and her family.--Xu Xi, author of That Man in Our Lives Sonia's sentences are punchy and detailed, and there is clearly a very powerful story of growth and transformation that parallels and throws light upon China's own journey into the modern world. I thought there were interesting parallels with Sonia and the author of Dream of Red Mansions, and the rare experience in growing up in a place such as the Leung Mansion.--Justin Hill, author of The Drink and Dream Teahouse

Author Information

Sonia Leung is an award-winning poet, fiction, and creative non-fiction writer from Hong Kong. Her work has appeared in literary journals and anthologies worldwide. She is the author of Don't Cry, Phoenix (2020), a poetry collection. The Girl Who Dreamed is her second book. She is finalizing her third, Three-inch Heaven: Stories of Resilience and Determination, a collection of essays and short stories reflecting Chinese women's lives.

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