Novel follows family after 228 Massacre
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Jennifer J. Chow, author of “The 228 Legacy.”
LOS ANGELES — Everyone in the United States has heard of 9/11. Taiwan’s equivalent is 2-2-8, standing for 2/28/47, when a nationwide massacre occurred under Chinese Kuomintang rule.
After forty years the horrors that occurred under martial law remain secrets to the families that suffered them.
Jennifer J. Chow, author of The 228 Legacy, was inspired to write a novel after hearing family stories.
“I wanted to explore the effects of deep-held secrets from an event of this magnitude across several generations on a Taiwanese-American family,” Chow said.
Civilian deaths ranged from 10,000 to 30,000 from the violent suppression of an anti-government uprising against the KMT-led Republic of China government. The “White Terror” that followed led to thousands more imprisoned or killed and sparked an independence movement.
“I first heard about 228 while viewing photos of a two-million-person chain commemorating the event,” she said “In 2004, people stretched across the island of Taiwan to bring awareness to this significant incident. I realized then how emotional and important, yet unknown to the world, this event was.”
The 228 Legacy
July 25, 2013
Martin Sisters Publishing
Fiction – $16.95
A novel of cultural identity and long-standing secrets, The 228 Legacy weaves together multigenerational viewpoints, showing how heritage and history can influence individual behavior and family bonds.
“On my several visits to Taiwan, I also saw the heart-breaking impact on my relatives,” she said. “They almost teared up recounting the tens of thousands of innocent people who died during that time, including the elite of the country’s citizens. Since the subject was taboo for many years, many generations also had to hold onto the dark secret in their hearts.”
Jane Porter, national bestselling author of The Good Daughter, describes the book as, “An impressive debut! Moving, hopeful, and triumphant. A compelling read.”
Chow’s novel addresses the 228 Massacre and how its emotional associations could have created a gap between the Chinese and Taiwanese peoples. It tells the story of how the event affected one family across the generations. It is a book about how experiences shape families, making them draw close or distance themselves from one another.
Chow also explores the cultural barriers encountered when integrating into a new land and the struggle of living life with a hyphenated identity.
Jennifer J. Chow is a graduate of Cornell University with a BS in Biology and Society and an undergraduate specialization in gerontology, along with a Master’s in Social Welfare with a concentration in aging. She is also a licensed clinical social worker.
The 228 Legacy made it to the second round of the 2013 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. Find out more at jenniferjchow.com. The book is in print and digital media at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and other major booksellers.
pls can you help me buy an english version of this book? I am intrigued by Taiwan’s history and current fight for recognition/identity. I live in the UK but visit taiwan regularly, can i buy it there?
thanks
US author Jennifer Chow probes ‘legacy’ of the 228 Massacre in new novel
FAMILY DRAMA:A Chinese-American has written a book on the 228 Incident
and its effects that she hopes will educate readers about a key event
in Taiwanese history
from THE TAIPEI TIMES
TAIPEI — Chinese-American Jennifer J. Chow has written her first
novel, ”The 228 Legacy”, based on stories about the 228 Incident
that her husband and his relatives recounted to her.
Published earlier this year, the book tells the story of three
generations of Taiwanese in the US. Similar to another Taiwan-themed
novel by Julie Wu, The Third Son, Wu’s book explores the events of the
Incident, but also delves into the psychological ramifications it had
on families decades after it occurred.
“My husband is Taiwanese,” said Chow, whose father is from Malaysia
and her mother from Hong Kong. “His family immigrated to America for
continued college education. They are great examples of both the
American dream as well as the hard work ethic found in so many
Taiwanese families.”
“Their story is motivational, as they were able to attend college in
Taiwan without much in the way of financial resources and came to the
US on scholarships. They remain very connected to their Taiwanese
roots, especially since the majority of their extended family still
lives there,” she said.
Chow said that she first heard of the massacre from her husband and
his family, which led her to start researching the Incident to write
her novel.
“My research ranged from historical statements from the KMT [Chinese
Nationalist Party] to eyewitness accounts of the 228 Massacre,” she
said. “I spoke to in-laws and relatives who shared their still raw
emotional reactions to 228, even though it occurred decades ago.”
“Viewing old photographs helped me gain a better understanding of the
time period involved. Resources like the 228 Memorial Foundation’s
Research Report on Responsibility for the 228 Massacre and George
Kerr’s Formosa Betrayed were and remain invaluable for shedding light
on [the] 228 [Incident],” Chow added.
The writer also visited Taiwan to get a better sense of the land and
its culture.
“I had a chance to visit recently erected monuments and museums that
speak to the life and events of Taiwan’s modern history, such as the
National Museum of Taiwan Literature and the Shoushan 228 Memorial
Monument. Even places like Taiwan Storyland offered me a deeper
picture to life in Taiwan’s past,” she said. “When I can visit a
physical location and sense history in such an active way, it’s a
truly transformative experience.”
When asked about the title of her book, Chow said she chose the word
“legacy” because she wanted to convey the effects the massacre had on
several generations within the same family.
“In a sense, 228 got passed down from mother to daughter in my book,
in both subtle and significant ways,” she said. “The grandmother in
the novel, named Silk, hides the event from the younger generations in
her family, and I wanted to show how, even while hidden, her secret
managed to affect her daughter and granddaughter.”
Chow hopes her book will resonate with Westerners. Trained as a social
worker for the elderly, Chow said that when she was interning with the
Jewish Family Service in Los Angeles, she spoke with elderly Jewish
Holocaust survivors, whole told her their “heartbreaking” stories.
Relating what she learned there with what she learned about the
massacre, Chow said: “Imagine how it would feel if a similar trauma
was hidden from you, which is what happened in Taiwan. Until martial
law ended in 1987, the mere mention of 228 was discouraged. I think
the truth frees and helps people to heal.”
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http://www.taipeitimes.com