Once Upon a Time in the East

Once Upon a Time in the East is a memoir by Chinese-born British Xiaolu Guo. The book is titled Nine Continents: A Memoir In and Out of China in the United States. Summary Guo's memoir begins with her as a newborn, when she was given to another couple by her parents. The couple raised Guo in a mountain village, which is where she remained at until she was 2 years old when the couple sent Guo back to her grandparents. Guo lived with her grandparents in the fishing village Shitang until she was 7 years old. As a child, Guo was in constant hunger and she later met her birth parents and lived at a communist compound. The memoir also documents her time in Beijing and in London after moving there in 2002. Background Guo decided to write the book because her friends said that her previously published writings about her childhood "were amazing". Her novel Village of Stone was partially based on her life. Guo thought that it would be hard to write the book, but she said that "it was the quickest book" that she has written. It was most difficult for Guo to write about her early life. The book is titled Nine Continents: A Memoir In and Out of China in the United States.