{"product_id":"finding-samuel-lowe-china-jamaica-harlem-isbn-9780062331632","title":"Finding Samuel Lowe: China, Jamaica, Harlem","description":"\u003cp\u003eSpanning four generations and moving between New York, Jamaica, and China, a powerful memoir that is a universal story of one woman’s search for her maternal grandfather and the key to her self-identity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThanks to her spiteful, jealous Jamaican mother, Nell Vera Lowe was cut off from her Chinese father, Samuel, when she was just a baby, after he announced he was taking a Chinese bride. By the time Nell was old enough to travel to her father’s shop in St. Ann’s Bay, he’d taken his family back to China, never learning what became of his eldest daughter. Bereft, Nell left Jamaica for New York to start a new life. But her Asian features set her apart from her Harlem neighbors and even her own children—a difference that contributed to her feeling of loneliness and loss which she instilled in her only daughter, Paula.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYears later, with a successful corporate career behind her and the arrival of her only grandchild raising questions about family and legacy, Paula decided to search for Samuel Lowe’s descendants in China. With the support of her brothers and the help of encouraging strangers, Paula eventually pieced together the full story of her grandfather’s life, following his story from China to Jamaica and back, and connecting with 300 surprised relatives who were overjoyed to meet her.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eFinding Samuel Lowe\u003c\/em\u003e is a remarkable journey about one woman’s path to self-discovery. It is a story about love and devotion that transcends time and race, and a beautiful reflection of the power of family and the interconnectedness of our world.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eFinding Samuel Lowe\u003c\/em\u003e includes a 16-page black-and-white photo insert and photos in the text.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003eThis powerful debut tells the story of Paula Williams Madison's Chinese grandfather, Samuel Lowe. He became romantically involved with a Jamaican woman, Paula's grandmother, and they lived together modestly with their daughter in his Kingston dry goods store, Chiney Shop. In 1920 his Chinese soon-to-be wife arrived to set up a \"proper\" family. When he requested to take his three-year-old daughter with him, Paula's jealous grandmother made sure that Lowe never saw his child again. That began an almost one-hundred-year break in their family.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYears later, the arrival of her only grandchild raising questions about family and legacy, Paula decided to search for Samuel Lowe's descendants in China. With the support of her brothers and the help of encouraging strangers, a determined Paula eventually pieced together her grandfather's life, following his story from China to Jamaica and back.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHer amazing search is vividly rendered. Paula has produced an emotional memoir that travels from Toronto to Jamaica to China. Using old documents, digital records, and referrals from the insular and interrelated Chinese-Jamaican community, she found three hundred long-lost relatives in Shenzhen and Guangzhou, China. She even located documented family lineage that traces back three thousand years to 1006 BC. Her wonderfully warm elders, all born in Jamaica and raised in China, shared the history and accomplishments of the Lowes in the East and the West, as well as the hardships and persecution suffered by her capitalist grandfather during the Communist era and the Cultural Revolution.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eFinding Samuel Lowe\u003c\/em\u003e is a remarkable journey about one woman's path to self-discovery. It is a story about love and devotion that transcends time and race, and a beautiful reflection of the power of family and the interconnectedness of our world.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e“Told through an intimate family portrait this story is a moving account of a vivid historic migration; an unyielding and dogged journey of the human spirit.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWalter Mosley\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“This is an extraordinary story of identities lost and found. Paula Madison’s audacious search illuminates not only her own family’s story, but a lost world of the Chinese diaspora in the Caribbean, Jamaica’s mixing bowl of race and culture, and Harlem’s melting pot of talent and ambition. Told with grace and authority, a reader cannot help but feel astonished that this entire world was just sitting there, waiting for Madison to be our guide. Once her story is revealed, the reader cannot help but look at the world differently.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBen Jealous Former President and CEO, NAACP  Ben Jealous Former President and CEO, NAACP  Ben Jealous, Former President and CEO, NAACP\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“This is an extraordinary story of identities lost and found. Paula Madison’s audacious search illuminates not only her own family’s story, but a lost world of the Chinese diaspora in the Caribbean, Jamaica’s mixing bowl of race and culture, and Harlem’s melting pot of talent and ambition.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBen Jealous, Former President and CEO, NAACP\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“\u003ci\u003eFinding Samuel Lowe\u003c\/i\u003e is more than a search for roots and identity.  It is the fulfillment of Paula Madison’s unspoken spiritual promise to her mother and to ancestors that she discovers go back further than she ever imagined. It is our great fortune as readers to accompany her on that journey.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWarrington Hudlin, President, Black Filmmaker Foundation\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A well-structured memoir told in brief, punchy vignettes alternating between past and present.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“This memoir is a quick, fascinating read that sheds light on a little-known aspect of cross-cultural history.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBustle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A heartwarming quest of a woman’s search for her Chinese grandfather-and a powerful journey of self-discovery. From one corner of the world to another, from one culture to another, Madison expertly brings family together, showing that all of humanity is attached by a thread of love. This emotionally rich story is a must-read, to be sure.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eHarriette Cole, author of Jumping the Broom\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“From one corner of the world to another, from one culture to another, Madison expertly brings family together, showing that all of humanity is attached by a thread of love. This emotionally rich story is a must-read, to be sure.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eHarriette Cole, author of Jumping the Broom\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“With piercing honesty and the adventurous spirit of an explorer, Paula Williams Madison connects China, Jamaica, and America... all part of her family tree. \u003ci\u003eFinding Samuel Lowe\u003c\/i\u003e is more than about finding lost ancestors. It’s also a journey of finding oneself, accepting oneself, and reveling in the way the past circles back to embrace the present.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFarai Chideya, author Innovating Women, Don't Believe the Hype, and The Color of Our Future\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eFinding Samuel Lowe\u003c\/i\u003e is simply the most exciting, daring and brilliant memoir I’ve read in the 21st century.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKiese Laymon\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A fascinating family memoir that peeks inside the life of a 1960s Harlem kid, takes readers back a century to Jamaica, and then reads like a detective story... Madison writes with such passion that it’s a treat to see how finding her grandfather means finding herself.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Bookworm Sez\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“How Madison ultimately connects with her grandfather’s descendants in China will produce more OMG moments than any prime-time drama on cable or Netflix could ever hope to elicit.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eEssence\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Amistad","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44888238096613,"sku":"NP9780062331632","price":25.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780062331632.jpg?v=1730228578","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/finding-samuel-lowe-china-jamaica-harlem-isbn-9780062331632","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}