Scan barcode
cameliarose's review against another edition
4.0
I found Onoto Watanna: The Story of Winnifred Eaton after I read Sui Sin Far, a biography for Winnifred Eaton's sister, Edith Eaton, who was also a writer. In Asian American literature circle, it seems Edith is considered the "good" sister while Winnifred is the "bad" one. In her book, The Chinese In American, historian Iris Chang highly praised the elder sister but totally ignored Onoto Watanna.
I was a bit worried that the biographer, Diana Birchall, might "white-wash" her grandmother, which I am happy to discover, is not the case. Diana Birchall truthfully pictured Winifred Eaton as a talented, inventive writer and a psychologically complicate woman.
Diana Birchall also answered (at least partially) several questions that I had been wondering:
1. Did Winnifred fake her identity merely because of survival instinct and how did she feel about her own fabrication? Did she ever feel shame?
2. Was she never discovered by her audience or journalists and reporters at the height of her fame?
3. What was the reaction from real Japanese scholars at her time and in modern days?
The book is less academic and more entertaining than Sui Sin Far.
I am now fascinated by the mix-raced, poverty-ridden bohemian Eaton family. The 12 (another 2 died in infancy) children seemed all have made to a better life. Quite a few of them were not just survivors but fighters... Another Eaton sister, Grace, when widowed, became a lawyer and was admitted to Illinois bar in 1912 at the age of forty-five.
I was a bit worried that the biographer, Diana Birchall, might "white-wash" her grandmother, which I am happy to discover, is not the case. Diana Birchall truthfully pictured Winifred Eaton as a talented, inventive writer and a psychologically complicate woman.
Diana Birchall also answered (at least partially) several questions that I had been wondering:
1. Did Winnifred fake her identity merely because of survival instinct and how did she feel about her own fabrication? Did she ever feel shame?
2. Was she never discovered by her audience or journalists and reporters at the height of her fame?
3. What was the reaction from real Japanese scholars at her time and in modern days?
The book is less academic and more entertaining than Sui Sin Far.
I am now fascinated by the mix-raced, poverty-ridden bohemian Eaton family. The 12 (another 2 died in infancy) children seemed all have made to a better life. Quite a few of them were not just survivors but fighters... Another Eaton sister, Grace, when widowed, became a lawyer and was admitted to Illinois bar in 1912 at the age of forty-five.
cameliarose's review
4.0
I found Onoto Watanna: The Story of Winnifred Eaton after I read Sui Sin Far, a biography for Winnifred Eaton's sister, Edith Eaton, who was also a writer. In Asian American literature circle, it seems Edith is considered the "good" sister while Winnifred is the "bad" one. In her book, The Chinese In American, historian Iris Chang highly praised the elder sister but totally ignored Onoto Watanna.
I was a bit worried that the biographer, Diana Birchall, might "white-wash" her grandmother, which I am happy to discover, is not the case. Diana Birchall truthfully pictured Winifred Eaton as a talented, inventive writer and a psychologically complicate woman.
Diana Birchall also answered (at least partially) several questions that I had been wondering:
1. Did Winnifred fake her identity merely because of survival instinct and how did she feel about her own fabrication? Did she ever feel shame?
2. Was she never discovered by her audience or journalists and reporters at the height of her fame?
3. What was the reaction from real Japanese scholars at her time and in modern days?
The book is less academic and more entertaining than Sui Sin Far.
I am now fascinated by the mix-raced, poverty-ridden bohemian Eaton family. The 12 (another 2 died in infancy) children seemed all have made to a better life. Quite a few of them were not just survivors but fighters... Another Eaton sister, Grace, when widowed, became a lawyer and was admitted to Illinois bar in 1912 at the age of forty-five.
I was a bit worried that the biographer, Diana Birchall, might "white-wash" her grandmother, which I am happy to discover, is not the case. Diana Birchall truthfully pictured Winifred Eaton as a talented, inventive writer and a psychologically complicate woman.
Diana Birchall also answered (at least partially) several questions that I had been wondering:
1. Did Winnifred fake her identity merely because of survival instinct and how did she feel about her own fabrication? Did she ever feel shame?
2. Was she never discovered by her audience or journalists and reporters at the height of her fame?
3. What was the reaction from real Japanese scholars at her time and in modern days?
The book is less academic and more entertaining than Sui Sin Far.
I am now fascinated by the mix-raced, poverty-ridden bohemian Eaton family. The 12 (another 2 died in infancy) children seemed all have made to a better life. Quite a few of them were not just survivors but fighters... Another Eaton sister, Grace, when widowed, became a lawyer and was admitted to Illinois bar in 1912 at the age of forty-five.
More...