Book of Lost Dreams

“When the tides of history crash against the quiet shores of an ordinary life, the results can be both strange and devastating. Joseph Yen grew up in the shadow of civil war, revolution, and unrelenting political upheaval. Born into the household of a wealthy Shanghai industrialist, he might have expected a life of privilege and stability. Instead, the great storms of the age — national and domestic alike — swept him into a world of uncertainty.
Moving with his mother to Beijing, the young Joseph witnessed the Communist victory and the radical transformations of the 1950s through the curious, unblinking eyes of a child. As he advanced through school, he felt both the thrill of political change and the tightening grip of ideology, alongside the persecution of friends and neighbours. Yet his private world was no less vivid: friendships, an awakening love for music and literature, and the first stirrings of his sexuality shaped his inner life.
This memoir traces the arc of Joseph Yen’s journey from his birth in 1942 to his exile from China in 1975. Through years marked by trauma, loss and profound hardship, he endured with wit, candour, and a keen fascination for the warp and weft of human existence. His story reminds us that the vast movements of history are often best understood through the small details of individual lives.