audio historical fiction ~9.5 hours (silent film era Chinese-American international film star Anna May Wong tells her life story as she prepares to write an autobiography)

I generally don't take as well to historical fiction that is based on actual events, because it always feels too didactic: "This is what happened; this is how things were at the time; this is how I reacted." But Tsukiyama and narrator Cindy Kay do a great job of combining history with storytelling that is very readable and doesn't feel too forced, if fictionalized biography is your thing.

If you, like me, would prefer a readable nonfiction biography, and not have to wonder about which bits are true and which are fictionalized, I highly recommend Daughter of the Dragon: Anna May Wong's Rendezvous with American History by noted Chinese-American historian/author Yunte Huang, which gives careful and thorough attention to the forms of racism that were present in AMW's time and which affected her family and others, as well as a lively and well-researched account of her life. ( )