China in Another Time: A Personal Story

In this posthumously published illustrated memoir, Lintilhac, the daughter of an American missionary doctor, endearingly tells of her life as a rural nurse in China. Born in a remote village in North China during the final days of the Qing Dynasty in 1899, Lintilhac spent her life in small communities, working as a traveling nurse or in hospitals before moving to Vermont in 1958. During her time in China, she witnessed the Boxer Rebellion, a decade of warlords, and the country’s transition from a dynastic nation to an early incarnation as a Communist country. She kept copious notes, and her son, Phillip Linthilac, used those along with excerpts from hours of interviews (some of which readers can listen to via the book’s companion website) to assemble this remarkable tale. She shares copious stories and photos of events she witnessed: treating patients during a typhoon, making water drinkable pre-industrialization, the custom of foot binding, the Battle of Shanghai, and the rise of Mao. Her view of a crucial period of transition is truly a marvel to behold. This impressive work is sure to add depth and color to the reader’s understanding of early 20th-century China. (Oct.)