In her second memoir, Luong H. Ung-Lai tells of her harrowing experiences as a thirteen-year-old girl left all alone in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge genocide, followed by her escape to Thailand and her struggle to build a new life in the United States. This volume is enhanced with newly composed poems and a closing author's note to provide additional context.
Using her childhood nickname, "Moy," this memoir begins shortly after the deaths of her mother and grandfather. But there's no time for grieving, as Moy must stand up for herself and fight on many different fronts to survive. When the local tyrant tries to rape her, Moy finds her inner strength-with nerves of steel, she smiles and stands eyeball to eyeball with him until he backs down.
Even so, she can't save a loved one from being murdered, and after hearing snatches on the radio about people at the Thai border helping orphans, and something about freedom, education, and a land called "America," Moy decides to escape.
Written to honor the victims of the Khmer Rouge, Moy's story is ultimately uplifting, as she triumphs over evil and devastating loss, and achieves the one thing her mother always wanted for her-an education.
About the Author: Luong H. Ung-Lai was born of Chinese parents in Angkor, Cambodia, and grew up being called by her childhood nickname, Moy. She was eleven years old when the Khmer Rouge violently rose to power in 1975, and her experiences were horrendous, including having to watch helplessly as her mother and grandfather died slow, painful deaths. Eventually, she escaped to Thailand and was brought to the United States.
In 1987, six years after leaving Cambodia, Ung-Lai began shaping her memories into a narrative as a process of psychological healing. These writings became the memoirs The Freedom...Cage and The Freedom...Cage II: Moy.
Ung-Lai is also the author of a work of fiction titled Silver Moon, Tom Cupcake.
