Born in Shadows, Carried by Hope

Born in Shadows, Carried by Hope

Stories of Chinese Migration Inspired by Real Lives from 1920 to Now

They left with almost nothing. Some with a bag. Some with a borrowed name. All with hope.

In this deeply human and intimate collection, author Sam Choo brings to life the untold journeys of Chinese migrants over the past century — from dusty villages in Guangdong to the kitchens of Sydney, the shipyards of Singapore, the streets of London, and the silence of loss in rural China.

Told through twenty first-person stories, Born in Shadows, Carried by Hope gives voice to the forgotten — the coolie’s son, the matchstick wife, the girl who cut hair in Chinatown, the mother still waiting for her missing son. These are not heroes. They are not famous. But they are the reason many of us are here today.

Inspired by true events and written in simple, memoir-like prose, this book is a tribute to those who survived quietly, worked silently, and carried our futures across oceans without asking for recognition.

If you’ve ever wished you had asked your parents or grandparents about their past — this book is for you.

Because their stories may be gone.

But their spirit is not.