Book Review: Hu Shuli Retraces Her Forebearers’ Wartime Footsteps in Indonesia

Turning the pages of Hu Shuli’s new book, “A Wartime Escape — Retracing the Footprints of My Granduncle in Sumatra,” one is transported back to the days when our cultural forebears fled to the equatorial highlands in Indonesia amid the ravages of war.

The book recounts how those figures struggled to survive in a world of chaos in the 1940s, embodying the indomitable spirit of the Chinese people, while providing mutual comfort like a family and nurturing love and life in a dire situation — all while taking a keen interest in the exotic cultures they encountered.