Special guest Jennifer Dobbs (Washington College ’56), author of the acclaimed memoir Lost in China will be on hand for the Owings Library Terrace dedication at Washington College on Saturday, April 27.
Written as a tribute to the father she lost during the Japanese attack on Hong Kong, China in 1941, Jennifer Dobb’s memoir Lost in China is a powerful narrative about how she and her brother, five and seven, were separated and without their parents for a year, not knowing if they were even alive.
During a year of constant bombing, the siblings were cared for by family friends until they could find safe passage on military flights back to America to reunite with their mother in Washington, DC, only to discover their father had perished. and her mother had been imprisoned by the Japanese.
Lost in China is a book about survival and long-term trauma. Steeped in the details of life in 1940s China, Dobbs writes through the childhood lens of colonial privilege in Shanghai’s International Settlement and its sudden fracturing. It’s a powerful narrative about the consequences of war and the lifelong wounds of loss.
At 90, Dobbs felt it was finally time to write her story.
Recognized by Kirkus Reviews as one of the Best Indie Books of 2022. Dobbs “reminiscence is simply extraordinary—historically edifying, emotionally dramatic, and elegantly conveyed. A gripping memoir brimming with personal and historical insight.”
A Washington College graduate (Class of ’56), Jennifer Dobbs will return to Chestertown on April 27 to participate in the dedication of the Owings Library Terrace. On that day, she will speak about her dear friend Don Owings (WC ’55).
The Bookplate bookstore will co-host with Miller Library a reading of Lost in China from 2-3 p.m. on Saturday, April 27th in the Newlin Room of Miller Library.
For more about Jennifer Dobbs and Lost in China, go here.
The Spy recently talked with Jennifer via Zoom about her book.
This video is approximately five minutes in length.
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