Journey from Shanghai [Paperback]

Lucille Bellucci (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2002

Child of war in Shanghai, China, Rafaella faces harsh realities in Italy with little but persistence and courage. Her story is harrowing but ultimately fulfilling.

The Good Old Days in China are over by the time Rafaella Bardini turns eight. She knows war and privation as she breathes air. When she and her Italian father and Chinese mother are exiled by the Communist government, they arrive in Italy with one suitcase each and 150 American dollars. Her father dying, Rafaella finds herself, at 18, head of the family. They are living in a refugee relocation camp in bombed-out Catania, Sicily, not a city in 1952 where a job can be found. Rafaella travels to Rome, and there looks up her shipboard friend, Stefano. He seems to know Rome well already, and impresses Rafaella with his self-assurance. A cynical young man, he has observed that Italians liked to observe the public conventions while dodging them in private. Life here isn't so different from that in Shanghai. Rafaella, too, begins learning how to live in this new country. Her journey is a process that engages all sense and wit. Learning has a price. As she looks back upon the landscape of her life, she assesses the different faces of courage she has known and recognizes the strong heart imbued in every one of them.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lucille Bellucci was born in Shanghai, China, of an Italian-Dutch-Indonesian father and Chinese mother. She has lived in Italy and Brazil. Her other novels are The Snake Woman of Ipanema, The Year of the Rat, and A Rare Passion. Her short stories and essays have appeared in national periodicals and literary journals. She resides in Oakland, California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Writers Club Press (February 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595215297
• ISBN-13: 978-0595215294
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,044,975 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Immensely entertaining, March 15, 2002

By 

Charlotte Vale-Allen (CT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Journey from Shanghai (Paperback)

A richly written story that focuses on Rafaella Bardini and Stefano Chang, both with Chinese mothers and non-Chinese fathers, and Rafaella's mother Mai-yeen. Covering a handful of years, from their leaving Shanghai aboard ship, to their arrival in Italy, and the gradual changes that shape not only the three central figures but also a cast of wonderfully well-drawn secondary characters. Bellucci manages to evoke the essence of the places she describes--Shanghai, Catania, Rome, Hong Kong--and to flesh them out with perfectly placed bits of detail, flashes of street scenes; aromas of food, of incense; a splash of color here, a gust of wind there. This is good writing, marred only by less than good proofreading. But even so, an enormously compelling novel that positively begs for a sequel.
Highly recommended.