My Unexpected Life

This is an amazing true story of a little girl, born in secret to a distinguished family in China in 1932, who is gathered into the family by her famous father when he learns that her mother has borne their seventh child. Fleeing from the invading Japanese during the war years, Sue-ning Chu Barry tells of seeing fighter planes strafing and trucks filled with dead bodies, of moving from village to village, and of maintaining the traditional culture of the times. With her nanny providing personal care–even to placing toothpaste on her little toothbrush, Sue writes of her privileged life until the family must escape the Communists and evacuate to Taiwan in April 1949.

Completing her high school education in Taiwan, Sue flies, for the first time, and all alone, to America to pursue a college degree. Following the example of her siblings, Sue receives her doctorate and enters academia as a Professor of Anatomy, and, subsequently, travels to six continents, visiting remote and dangerous countries, culminating in a trip to South Africa in 2016.