Finding Fat Lady's Shoe

Book excerpt: Finding Fat Lady's Shoe is the memoir of Dr. James Y. Hung, who in 1949, at age three, fled Communist China with his family. This memoir takes the reader to the back alleys of Kau Wa Keng Village in Kowloon, into the quicksand and jungles of Malaysia and back to a newly glitzy Hong Kong. In this compelling and readable life story of Dr. Hung, the reader is transported back in time to Mao's takeover of China when thousands of refugees scraped by on a meager existence in Hong Kong. Through the many characters described in the book, the reader comes to know James' world. With each move his family made, James would again become an outsider and, again, manage to make new friends and thrive in his new environment. This book is about hope and redemption, with James eventually fulfilling his dream of obtaining a visa to study in the U.S.