Daughters of the Bamboo Grove

From China to America, a True Story of Abduction, Adoption, and Separated Twins

De: Barbara Demick

Narrado por: Joy Osmanski

The heartrending story of twin sisters torn apart by China’s one-child policy and the rise of international adoption—from the author of the National Book Award finalist Nothing to Envy

“Excellent . . . entrancing and disturbing . . . [Demick] is one of our finest chroniclers of East Asia. . . . [Her] characters are richly drawn, and her stories, often reported over a span of years, deliver a rare emotional wallop.”—The New York Times

On a warm day in September 2000, a woman named Zanhua gave birth to twin girls in a small hut behind her brother’s home in China’s Hunan province. The twins, Fangfang and Shuangjie, were welcome additions to her family but also not her first children. Living under the shadow of China’s notorious one-child policy, Zanhua and her husband decided to leave one twin in the care of relatives, hoping each toddler on their own might stay under the radar. But, in 2002, Fangfang was violently snatched away. The family worried they would never see her again, but they didn’t imagine she could be sent as far as the United States. She might as well have been sent to another world.

Following stories she wrote as the Beijing bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times, Barbara Demick embarks on a journey that encompasses the origins, shocking cruelty, and long-term impact of China’s one-child rule; the rise of international adoption and the religious currents that buoyed it; and the exceedingly rare phenomenon of twin separation. Today, Esther—formerly Fangfang—lives in Texas, and Demick brings to vivid life the Christian family that felt called to adopt her, unaware that she had been kidnapped. Through Demick’s indefatigable reporting, will the long-lost sisters finally reunite—and will they feel whole again?

A remarkable window into the volatile, constantly changing China of the last half century and the long-reaching legacy of the country’s most infamous law, Daughters of the Bamboo Grove is also the moving story of two sisters torn apart by the forces of history and brought together again by their families’ determination and one reporter’s dogged work.

©2025 Barbara Demick (P)2025 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Excellent . . . entrancing and disturbing . . . [Barbara Demick] is one of our finest chroniclers of East Asia. [Her] characters are richly drawn, and her stories, often reported over a span of years, deliver a rare emotional wallop.”—The New York Times

“This book is resounding proof that nobody can understand China without reading Barbara Demick, because she unearths stories the government wants buried.”—Evan Osnos, National Book Award-winning author of Age of Ambition

“[Demick] has written with impeccable empathy for everyone involved, Chinese and western. . . . She captures the essence of rural Chinese society in a way few western observers have done.”—The Times (UK)

Enlightening and Entertaining

The author brings to life the trauma of China’s misguided one-child policy and the ripple effects it had on both Chinese families and international adoptions.

Engrossing Story

Well researched and written. I found the writing a bit simplistic and the reader annoying (she says China just like Trump does). Worth a listen.

Brilliant!

Fascinating story on so many levels. Once I started I couldn’t stop listening! A unique look into China, its people and a policy that tore families apart. And the dogged work of one journalist to reunite one such family.