Cripples Tree Author:Suyin, Han "I wanted to write a book about my father and mother and about China, and one day the idea took shape in action, and then it grew, as such seeds do, sprouting and then straightening into a distant shape, a tree of many brances; and as I too lived through years full of change and revolution, I too had to look back, look homeward, and write about ... more »the earthchanging time which took place in our generation. I did not know where to begin, how to start. China to me was of course my father and mother, and all I myself knew of China. To separate them from ,me would br to denude my story. Inextricably, the tree of my book grew, an odd growth, yet more true than all the ideal books write about China."« less