Running with the Tiger: A Memoir of an Extraordinary Young Woman's Life in Hong Kong, China, The South Pacific and POW Camp [Paperback]

Ansie Lee Sperry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 6, 2009

Ansie Lee Sperry's beautiful and witty memoir combines passages from her personal diary, historical research, photos and sketches to portray the fascinating life of a woman who lived in challenging times. Ansie grew up in a prominent Hong Kong family, one of fourteen children in a household with four mothers. Sent to England for her education at the age of nine, she returned to Hong Kong after her father's murder. When WWII broke out, she left her comfortable life in Hong Kong society to volunteer for the war effort in the interior of China. She went on to travel throughout the South Pacific until the war caught up with her in the Philippines, where she was interned in a Japanese POW camp. It was there that she fell in love with her future husband. Ansie Lee Sperry was born in 1914, the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese Zodiac.

Product Details

• Paperback: 284 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace (May 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1442112506
• ISBN-13: 978-1442112506
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,075,787 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing personal story of a courageous woman ahead of her time, August 11, 2009

By 

Martha P. E. Arscott (Atherton, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Running with the Tiger: A Memoir of an Extraordinary Young Woman's Life in Hong Kong, China, The South Pacific and POW Camp (Paperback)

This well written memoir brings the reader into the fascinating, adventurous and challenging youth of a woman who was way ahead of her times in terms of her independent and adventurous spirit before and during WWII. The fact that she somehow retained her diaries throughout her early life and even during her imprisonment is astounding and enables her to share her personal perspective throughout these times. This, coupled with well researched facts establishing an accurate historical setting, gives the reader insight which could never be gleaned from a history book. I finished the book in awe of Ansie's zeal for life and inspired by her extraordinary ability to face the most challenging of circumstances with pragmatism and dauntless strength.
Running with the Tiger: A Memoir of an Extraordinary Young Woman's Life in Hong Kong, China, The South Pacific and POW Camp

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A delight to read, September 15, 2009

By 

S. Oksanen "Smiles, Sue" (Palo Alto, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Running with the Tiger: A Memoir of an Extraordinary Young Woman's Life in Hong Kong, China, The South Pacific and POW Camp (Paperback)

History is so interesting and exciting when you hear it in the voice of someone who lived it. I especially loved the very first chapter with story of "Aunt" Li whose remains were found fully in tact with 138 melon seeds in her internal organs after 2000 years!!! As with any good book I read, it makes me interested to learn more. This book sent me to google many times seeking more information--googling "Hunan Provincial Museum" got pictures of auntie Li in the museum. Yet those sources, rarely include the intimate details woven into this book: like their hobby of growing silk worms to make silk for their clothes, the "honey carts" effect on dating life in Hong Kong; from traveling to England: experiencing the meaning of the word posh, the joys of a hully gully man, the lamplighter and Ansie's joy of learning in England; the delights and challenges of living and traveling in the South Pacific: the surprising hot shower with solar heated water, learning to boil clothes and ride a bicycle, and the delight of rhubarb for dessert; the many details of living as a prisoner of war: the rationing of toilet paper, bed bugs in your belt, amoebic dysentery and hospital care, ants and a typhoon, mixed with the joy of creating delicious food from scavenged bits and pieces cooked using charcoal made from coconut shells, the satisfaction of designing and building a shanty for herself and Donald, bookbinding, entertainment, drawing and art shows and of course the dramatic details of amphibious tank rescue from the prisoner of war camp. So much in just 263 pages which includes maps of her travels, pictures, documents and her own sketches from the prisoner of war camp--the detail in the hospital picture is incredible: she included not only the fly swatter, but the fly too. Ansie Lee Sperry clearly exemplifies her "tiger" sign (born in 1914) in her adventures overcoming many obstacles with creative solutions--a true tiger. It was a delight to read "Running with the Tiger".

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Completely Fascinating, September 17, 2009

By 

C. Saari (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Running with the Tiger: A Memoir of an Extraordinary Young Woman's Life in Hong Kong, China, The South Pacific and POW Camp (Paperback)

I recently have been reading a lot of history about the period covered by Ansie Sperry's life, including biographies of McArthur, Churchill, Nimitz and Chiang Kai-Shek. I thought Running with the Tiger would provide interesting background to my "main" reading, and it has - but it is so much more. Told by the person who lived it in a wry and humorous, yet substantive and serious fashion, Ms. Sperry's life comes across as much more interesting - and certainly more real - than the main figures one normally encounters in this period of history. If you're interested in Asia and the South Pacific in the 20th Century, you should read this book. But even more, if you want to know a genuinely fascinating woman, you have to read this book. Running with the Tiger is a greatly satisfying read in every respect.