Her mother-in-law followed her to the gate.
“When are you going to do it?”
“What do you mean?’
“The abortion.”

When Lei becomes pregnant with her second child, she faces the decision of continuing her pregnancy or having a forced abortion as required by Chinese law. And a Bird Sang presents a realistic backdrop for a story illuminating the universal challenge for women who must decide between subservient obedience or honouring their inner voices.

In China, millions of women annually face a similar choice to that of the main character in my novel – and 25 abortions are performed every minute of every day. Over 13 million every year.

When I first arrived in China in 2003, I taught 15 to 17 year olds grade ten oral English. It was my job to help them to overcome their shyness and learn to work cooperatively with each other, rather than competitively as was tradition in Chinese schooling. I loved my job and soon found myself included in these one-child families’ activities on the weekends and special holidays. We would leave the city and visit their grandparents in rural areas.

It was nothing to arrive for a meal and find the duck still being plucked, a live turtle on its back ready for slaughtering, and fish and eels swimming in the bathtub waiting to be skinned for lunch.

The families were curious about my background and envious that I came from a family of four siblings, with many nationalities represented through inter-marriages. When they asked why I was alone in China at age 62, I told them I wanted to learn about their country and also I wanted to pay off my mortgage back in Canada. This was a reason they could not fathom. Their immediate response was always, “Why won’t your sons buy you a house?”

In spite of wanting to ‘own’ my home in Canada, I have always believed that home is where your heart is. In fact, I embroidered a pillow with this saying on it when my husband and I, seven months pregnant, set sail from New Zealand in the late 60s aboard a 42 foot sailing vessel. Our first son was born in Fiji and our second son in Australia.

We sailed the South Pacific islands as a family, working a seafood business on the Sunshine Coast in Australia before we returned to Canada to sail down the coast of Canada, United States and Central America, through the Panama Canal and into the West Indies. School work was mixed with hauling sailfish aboard, rafting with other yachts, and deer hunting in Costa Rica, life experiences our sons will never forget.

You may ask how we could afford such a life? As my mother told one set of family members, “Have you ever seen their living room furniture?” We both knew we wanted to unplug from Western society and let our sons and ourselves experience other cultures and peoples. Life aboard a sailing yacht can be very inexpensive if you go with the wind and fish every day.

Recently I spent eight years in China. Within the first month, I started work on a novel, directed by an instructor from Vancouver Island University where I was taking an online writing course. His homework of “What if….” for the story line, led me to ask, ‘What if a woman accidentally gets pregnant with a second child?’

I was blessed to be trusted by my new Chinese friends. They shared personal experiences and stories of their friends and family members. I continually had Chinese people read my story to validate my writing. I sincerely wanted to write an authentic novel. At first, I wanted to believe that my story was in the ‘old’ days, after the one child policy was introduced in the late seventies. More and more, I have come to realize that the cruelty of this law is ever-present still today.

Boys are still revered and orphanages are full of girl babies and imperfect boys. There is an imbalance of boys to girls – 100 girls to every 118 boys.

The proceeds of my novel, And A Bird Sang, are being donated to several foster homes in China.

If you would like to have a signed copy and see some slides of the inspirations behind scenes from the story, please consider attending book readings on September 12 (Harbourfront Library, Nanaimo) and October 8 (North Nanaimo Library).  For details, go to our Upcoming Events page.  If you are unable to attend the events, the novel can be purchased in print format, or as a Kindle ebook from Amazon around the world.

Diane Bestwick
See Diane’s Website
For details on And A Bird Sang

Diane Bestwick spent almost a decade in China researching her novel. She was determined to write an authentic story, even though the characters are fictitious. She travelled extensively throughout China, living for short periods with many of her English student’s families as well as her teaching colleagues’ homes.  She now lives on Vancouver Island, is an advocate for the equality of women and plays a supportive role to several foster homes in China.

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