Forbidden Orphanage Outside the Forbidden City - by Becky Cerling Powers (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Laura Richards was a shy American nurse who moved to a remote North China village in 1929 to take in castaway babies. Through 22 years of famines, bandit invasions and wars, she lived in the same poor conditions as the Chinese peasants, while managing to save the lives of nearly 200 destitute children. So why did she refuse the Chinese Communist Party's offer to make her a national heroine? Laura Richards' story was too dangerous to tell when she returned to the U.S. in 1951. But when she died thirty years later, the old letters, photographs, and scattered bits of memoir that she left behind were so intriguing to her second cousin Becky Cerling Powers, that Becky began a 25-year quest to discover her quiet relative's amazing story. Eventually that quest led Becky to China and the orphans themselves. Today, over half a century after Laura left China, her story and her children's story can finally be told.

Review Quotes

"Rich with research and firsthand biographical details, Forbidden Orphanage Outside the Forbidden City takes the reader on a journey to the China of 1921-1951. Laura Richards, a Presbyterian missionary nurse, founded Canaan House for cast-off babies from destitute families, and stayed in China when other foreigners were evacuated. With the support of friends, dressed and eating like a Chinese peasant, Laura kept her 200 beloved children alive through the violence, famine and persecution of the Japanese invasion and the Maoist era. This is the inspiring story of an ordinary woman--but a woman of action, empowered by extraordinary faith, dedication and love." -- Caroline Kurtz, author of A Road Called Down on Both Sides: Growing Up in Ethiopia and America

"[Powers] describes a faith and dedication that inspires awe. And [she] places it all in context so well. How will it be received in the wider world? As an inspiring piece of history? As a challenge to faithfulness and commitment? As a threat? Maybe all of the above. How will it be received in China, or by overseas Chinese believers? I can only imagine. I wonder how the book can be positioned so as to provoke wide readership..." - Bill McConnell, retired assistant to the president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship

"The Forbidden Orphanage in the Forbidden City is a gripping story of faith in the face of hardship, and courage under dire circumstances. Becky Cerling Powers tells the story of Laura Richardson's "children" with detail that brings to life the gritty reality of life in China in the famine years, the wars, and the takeover of the regime. Today's incredibly modern China paints over the generational pain that today's grandparents carry hidden in their hearts." -- *Anna McShane, global writer and longtime university professor, Beijing *pseudonym

"A mesmerizing true story. I couldn't put it down, not for suspense, but rather the captivating nature of the story. Well, written. Not maudlin. Sensitive and accurate portrayal of 20th century political and cultural China. Author does not preach nor does she hide the realities of missionary life." -- Sally Mittelstadt, educator and writer, www.theoldcountrystore.com

About the Author

Becky Cerling Powers is a retired journalist and author or compiler of several books, including Forbidden Orphanage Outside the Forbidden City; Sticky Fingers, Sticky Minds (parenting); and My Roots Go Back to Loving (El Paso family stories). She loves to listen to people's stories and teach kids to write. You can find more about Becky at www.beckypowers.com.