Joining us today is debut author of Daughters of Shandong, Eve J. Chung! Eve is a human rights lawyer focusing on gender equality and women’s rights, writing a harrowing story heavily inspired by her own family’s story. Please check out her novel and give her a warm welcome!
Bookish Brews Snapshot
Daughters of Shandong by Eve J. Chung
The Ang family is more worried about their lack of an heir than the civil war. But as the Communist army closes in on their town, the rest of the family flees, leaving the girls and their mother alone to fend for themselves. With no male to punish, eldest daughter Hai is left to stand trial for her family's crimes. Barely surviving their brutality, the women plan their escape to confront the family that abandoned them for Taiwan.
🌳 Family Focused 🎶 Lyrical Prose ❤️‍🩹 Trauma and Healing 🪖 Military and War
- Genre: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
Interview with Eve J. Chung
Amanda: Hi Eve! Thank you so much for joining us at Bookish Brews! Can you introduce yourself and your upcoming book?
Eve: Hi everyone, I’m Eve J. Chung, author of Daughters of Shandong, which was recently published by Berkley on May 7, 2024.
Amanda: I’d love to hear about what got you into writing?
Eve: I always liked to make up stories when I was a child, and used to write stories for my younger brother, or just tell them on the spot. When I was in middle school, I had a teacher who made us all do a regular creative writing assignment–I can’t remember what the assignment was, but I ended up starting to write a novel. Though I never finished it, that was the first time in my life that I realized how much I loved writing, and wanted to be an author as an adult.
Amanda: You mentioned that your publishing journey was somewhat unconventional, can you tell us about your journey?
Eve: I wanted to talk more about my publishing journey, because I think it might be something that other second generation Americans might relate to. Even though my childhood dream was to be a writer, I had a lot of family pressure to be a doctor, lawyer, or engineer. My parents worked hard to come to the United States where they thought my brother and I would have more opportunities. Growing up, I felt like I myself was an extension of their dream, and I had use my life in a way that made their sacrifices worth it. For my parents, a career in the arts had too much uncertainty and they were afraid to let me pursue it. Having listened to their stories of hardship—and my grandparents’ stories of starvation—I decided to do as they urged. I chose to become a lawyer, because it is a profession that still allowed me to do something that I loved. I am passionate about social justice, and my first job out of law school with a fellowship at Human Rights Watch, and I’ve been lucky enough to have a career that I enjoy.
It wasn’t until I was 36 that I started to think back to my childhood dream. I already had my own children, and was at a place in my life in which my parents didn’t have to worry. Though I knew nothing about publishing, I decided to try to write a book—initially so that I could share my grandmother’s story with my children. Being a lawyer, I didn’t have other friends who were authors, and largely stumbled my way through the process using Google and Twitter. In that sense, I am grateful for the online writing community, which I learned so much from. I wasn’t expecting much then. To me, a book deal seemed like something that didn’t happen to ordinary people—almost like winning the lottery.
Even now, it’s sometimes hard for me to believe that this is real, and that I am about to be a published author. I hope that this story helps encourage others who were like me to try pursuing a dream that they left behind. I don’t think it’s ever too late! What I love about writing is that anyone can do it, and everyone has a story to tell. I’m grateful that I’m finally able to tell one of mine!
Amanda: What inspires you to keep going?
Eve: As a writer, I am influenced by my human rights work, and care about using storytelling as a medium for promoting awareness of and combating injustice. I am inspired by the work of human rights defenders around the world, especially young people, including students, who are pushing for positive change. I hope that the stories that I write can contribute to that goal.
Amanda: I firmly believe that stories help push us toward our justice goals too. How do you think stories can be used as a medium for promoting awareness and combating injustice?
Eve: I think stories are important in spreading awareness of injustice, especially in cases in which it’s a problem many experience. I know for me personally, I often feel seen when I read a book in which the MC’s experience resonates with me–it helps me feel like I’m not alone, but also encourages me to take action. There are also books in which I learn about a problem that I was entirely unfamiliar with, and even if it is a book of fiction, it helps me become aware of something so I can probe and research more myself if I want to. Stories can inspire us to take action, which is why they can be pivotal to social movements.
Amanda: You mention you learned the most about publishing through Google and Twitter, how was that learning process for you? Are there any particularly helpful things that you found in the process?
Eve: The learning process was definitely confusing! I think the biggest tip for any aspiring author is to find a writing community, because chances are, there are others who will have the same questions as you do, and will have researched that response. It helps save time, and generally yields better results when more people are working together.
Amanda: I know the writing space on Twitter has changed in the last year or two with different writing events coming and going and a new CEO very famously taking over, can you speak on how it looks different now than it did when you were just entering the space?
Eve: I will be honest and say that I am not on Twitter anymore, and that many people I know left as well. I’m not sure what it’s like now, but it is hard to believe that it is the same resource that it once was. However, I know that people do find a way to connect–it is in our nature–and that people will find ways to form communities, whether its in MySpace, Twitter or another new app or social site.
Amanda: Thank you so much for joining us today! Is there any last things you’d like to share with our readers here at Bookish Brews?
Eve: If you have a story you want to tell, I encourage you to keep writing and keep going!
