Daughters of the Bamboo Grove

From China to America: A True Story of Twin Trafficking, Adoption, and Separation


The latest work by award-winning journalist Barbara Demick. Totalitarian and top-down oppression is Demick's core concern, and she explores China's one-child policy and transnational adoption issues through the fate of twins born in China. She tells a deeply moving story while also offering a glimpse into a rapidly changing China over the past half-century.

In the book, Demick thoroughly examines the origins, cruelty, and long-term effects of China's one-child policy (1979-2015); the rise of international adoption and the religious ideologies supporting it; and the rare phenomenon of twin separation. By tracing the lives of Esther and Shuangjie in America and China respectively, she further explores and questions: How are people's broad fantasies (or prejudices) about Eastern and Western cultures and societies created and how do they influence the individuals living within them?

Heartfelt Recommendations

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Li Chih-te, Former Editor-in-Chief of The Initium
Li Limei, Taiwanese-American Book Reviewer
A Po, Writer
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Yang Tse-ya, Writer

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