The world of Nancy Kwan A memoir by Hollywood's Asian superstar

Actor Kwan chronicles her rise to stardom and her journey from Hong Kong to Hollywood in her inspiring debut. "My father was Chinese and my mother was English, and I always felt it gave me a better understanding of human nature," Kwan writes, teeing up her account of her 1940s childhood "between two worlds" in Hong Kong's Kowloon district. As a child, she aspired to become a ballerina. After a talent scout at an open casting call convinced her to do a screen test, however, a 20-year-old Kwan was offered a six-month contract, which soon led to the title role in the 1960 Hollywood film The World of Suzie Wong. As she charts her career, Kwan intertwines lighthearted anecdotes and heftier insights. For example, she reflects on the significance of being part of an all-Asian cast in her second film, Flower Drum Song, during a time when yellowface was a common casting practice, while offering an amusing behind-the-scenes recollection of Fred Astaire surprising the cast at a dance rehearsal. Elsewhere, she tackles racist stereotypes, the casting couch, and the loss of her son with aplomb. The result is an empowering personal history from an artistic trailblazer. Agent: Susan Canavan, Waxman Agency. (Apr.)

An Asian star is born. Originally named Kwan Ka Shen, Kwan was born in Hong Kong, her father's native city. Her British mother, Marquita, abandoned Kwan when she was a baby. Marquita's disappearance before the beginning of World War II ushered in an era of displacement, when Kwan and her family fled the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong for mainland China. Kwan then headed to boarding school in England, where, after graduating, she enrolled in the Royal Ballet School. Although she planned to move back to Hong Kong to start a ballet school, a chance encounter at a studio led to her entry into the Hollywood star system under the tutelage of Ray Stark, founder of the Seven Arts company. After famously starring in the popular movieThe World of Suzie Wong, she went on to act in everything from Disney movies to "sixties sex comedies." Her fame propelled her through multiple marriages; she also reunited with her estranged mother and endured the death of her son, Bernie. Toward the end of her career, Kwan moved behind the camera, writing and directing films alongside her husband, Norbert. Kwan's narratorial voice is exuberant and frank, focusing mostly on her acting career and rarely dwelling on her personal life, making the book feel more like an annotated filmography than an introspective memoir. Her behind-the-scenes accounts of the studio system are tantalizing, but the reader is often left wanting more. An entertaining Asian American Hollywood memoir. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.