Beyond the narrow gate

by Leslie Chang

In 1937, the year Leslie Chang's mother was born, the city of Nanking was destroyed by Japanese invaders with instructions from the Emperor to "kill all: destroy all; burn all." Eleven years later, when the Red Army marched into China, Han Man-li's family fled to Taiwan. It was there, at an elite girl's school in Taipei, that Han Man-li met Xiao Mei, Ling, and Ma-hua. They became close friends, sharing secrets, confidences, and the uncertainty of a country in turmoil. A few years later, they would leave their homeland, passing through the "narrow gate" of the First Girl's School on their way to America. Student visas and scholarships brought them to the United States, but for Han Man-li, Xiao Mei, Ling, and Ma-hua - now Mary, Dolores, Suzanne, and Margaret - their journey was just beginning. In cities as far apart as New York and Los Angeles, from the biology lab of a women's college to Wall Street to the gilded Chinese ghetto in California's Palos Verdes, Mary, Dolores, Suzanne, and M