Memoirs of Yoshiko Yamaguchi, Manchuria's 'Fragrant Orchid'

Often the conflicts between countries are best expressed through the personal story of a single citizen, and this is true with "Fragrant Orchid," the autobiography of famed actress and singer Li Xianglan. Born Yoshiko Yamaguchi — her birth name as an ethnic Japanese — the book details her upbringing in Japan-occupied Manchuria and her rise to transnational stardom during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Yamaguchi tells her own story through the eyes of a child and with the wisdom of an adult, in this beautifully woven tapestry of a life that reveals Asia during a pivotal moment in history.

"In 1932, at the age of 12," writes Yamaguchi, "a time when I was starting to comprehend the world, the color of Funshun's poplar-lined streets was changing from green to red, the red of gunfire, the color of the conflagration that night ... the color of blood gushing."

This is obviously not the typical memoir of a celebrity starlet — although Hollywood and Charlie Chaplin are part of her story, too. Yamaguchi's life and career were inextricably bound to both China and Japan, countries she called her "motherland" and "fatherland" respectively.

The book also departs from a normal memoir in its scholarship. A comprehensive Introduction by Chia-Ning Chang, professor of Japanese literature at the University of California and translator for the autobiography, places Yamaguchi's life firmly into its historical context, and extensive notes alongside a chronology of events, confirm Yamaguchi cared deeply about placing the personal alongside the political.

"Fragrant Orchid" is a fascinating look at how one life can be swayed to impact a nation.