Almost fifty years ago, I read  Pearl Buck’s Letter From Peking. I was a new bride, faced with my own boogeyman when my husband was confronted with the draft. We were all petrified in those days; for a man to get drafted was an automatic order to go to Vietnam, or so we thought.

Four months after we were married, Jim received his notice that it was time to get his draft physical, and rather than take his chance with the Army, he and a friend joined the Air Force where supposedly, according to the recruiter, chances of going to war were much less. Well, he went to Vietnam.

In Letter From Peking, the American protagonist living in China with her university professor, half Chinese husband, is forced to return to the states with their infant son when the Japanese invade the country during World War II. Her husband isn’t allowed to leave, and to prove his loyalty to the Chinese government, is forced to do something that made my skin crawl. Lol! I won’t say anymore in case you decide to read the book. I was haunted by that book for years.

When Jim returned to the states from Vietnam, it never occurred to me to think he might have left a child over there until I started to read about all the Vietnamese/ American babies who were growing up without their fathers. Fortunately, that’s one thing I’m writing about that I have not experienced. But the idea haunted me. What if a couple, nearing retirement, had to face the secret of an ancient affair and its outcome?

The Jade Emperor is FREE on Amazon from DECEMBER 29th to JANUARY 2nd. Please consider leaving a review for my book when you’re finished reading 🙂

The Jade Emperor received Runner Up in General Fiction at the Southern California Book Festival.