An un-American childhood

by Ann Kimmage

An Un-American Childhood is the thoughtful memoir of Ann Kimmage's experiences growing up as the daughter of American communist expatriates during the early Cold War era. As Kimmage recalls her youthful impressions of highly politicized daily life in Czechoslovakia and China, she also conveys the shocks and strains of being taken without forewarning, at eight years old, from her familiar American world - friends, food, language, customs, and virtually all of her personal belongings - and being totally immersed in another culture. In 1950, while McCarthyism reigned in America, Kimmage's parents, Abe and Belle Chapman, were active, loyal members of the American Communist Party. Kimmage lived with her sister and parents in Queens, New York, until they were suddenly forced underground, illegally fleeing first to Mexico and ultimately to Prague, Czechoslovakia, which at the time was in the early stages of its communist revolution. There, the Chapmans became the Capeks - a mystery to their n