Sarah Mathloma England, the mother of two small children, was living in the Philippines in 1920 when she was abandoned by her husband, who suffered from undiagnosed schizophrenia.

Left behind in Manila with a young son and daughter, Sarah Mathloma found work as a teacher. She soon rose to become the first woman principal of a Filipino high school in a country where free public education was not yet the norm. As World War Two broke out in the South Pacific, she sent both her children to live with relatives in the U.S. Imprisoned by the Japanese for the duration of the war, Sarah Mathoma survived cancer, the constant threat of brutality, and a starvation diet.

Drawing on historic documents, personal journals, and eyewitness accounts, Sally Brown (Sarah Mathloma’s daughter) weaves this past into a tapestry that becomes a testament to the survival of the human spirit. Set against the dramatic backdrop of the unfolding Twentieth Century, Sarah Mathloma is the story of a remarkably modern woman-a feminist before feminism.

About the author: Sally Brown grew up in the Philippines with her mother and younger brother. She is also the co-author, with her husband David, of A Biography of Mrs. Marty Mann: The First Lady of Alcoholics Anonymous.