Hello Golden Gate: Goodbye Russia

by Olga Valcoff

[i]Hello Golden Gate[/] is the epic generational saga of a family that was forced to flee their mother country and spent the rest of their lives looking for a place to call home. When author Olga Valcoff's grandparents left behind everything they cared for while fleeing from the Russian Revolution of 1917, they became part of Asia's White Russian community, where a diaspora of stateless refugees found comfort as they tried to rebuild their lives.Two generations later, Olga was born in Japan and moved to Shanghai with her parents, always on the run from war, Communism and political oppression.[i]Hello Golden Gate[/i] is a factual record of Russian refugees in the Far East from the early 1920's through World War II and Chinese Communist take over of China. At the heart of Olga's story is a strong family bond that endured hardships, enjoyed good times and never gave up hope. From illness, imprisonment and wartime destitution to beautiful Japanese festivals and opulent Russian religious holidays. The vignettes in [i]Hello Golden Gate[/i] let readers see what life was like in another time and place.

260 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Olga Valcoff was born in Kagoshima, Japan, and grew up in Japan, Shanghai and the Philippines, before and during World War II. She emigrated to the US with her family in 1951; she arrived at San Fransisco and then lived in Seattle. Later, she studied drama at Los Angeles City College. Olga was worked in theater in Chicago and as a fashion designer in New York City. She has one son, Nick. She is retire and lives in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, with her husband, Nicolas, and a cat.

Reviews

[HeavyReader · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this book out of a free box. I'll probably drop it back into the first free box I see.

The book was vaguely interesting, the story of a family of White Russians (a political designation, not an ethnic or racial designation) who left Russian when the communists took over. The family moved to China; then Japan; then to Shanghai during World War II; then to Tubabao, a small island in the Philippines after World War II; and finally to San Francisco, CA.

My favorite line of the book is uttered by the author's friend when the author's boyfriend gets his visa to the US and leaves the Philippines. The author is crying and carrying on, when the friend tells her the boy is not worth it. The author is confused, and the friend "sighed dramatically" and said, "Olga, he was carrying on behind your back with another girl. She gave him what you would not do!"

"She gave him what you would not do!" That cracks me up.

[Irina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative. It was very interesting to find out how my grand-grand father tried to run away from Russia, and how one of my long distance uncles ended up in Australia.