<p>Inthis powerful, touching memoir of a critically acclaimed Chinese-Americanwriter, taste becomes the keeper of memory and food the keeper of culture whenNai-nai, her extraordinary grandmother, arrives from mainland China.</p><p>LeslieLi’s paternal grandfather, Li Zogren, was China’s first democratically electedvice president, to whom Chiang Kai-shek left control of the country when hefled to Formosa in 1949. Nine years later, Li’s wife, Nai-nai, comes to livewith her son’s family in New York City, bringing a whole new world of sights,smells, and tastes as she quickly takes control of the kitchen. Nai-nai’stantalizingly exotic cooking opens up the heart and mind of her Americangranddaughter to her Chinese heritage—and to the world. Through her grandmother’straditional cuisine Leslie bridges the cultural divide in an America in whichshe is a minority—as well as the growing gap at home between her rigid,traditional Chinese father and her progressive American-born mother.Interspersed throughout her intimate and moving memoir are the author’spersonal recipes, most from Nai-nai’s kitchen, that add a delicious dimensionto the work. A loving ode to family and food, <em>Daughter of Heaven</em> is an exquisite blend of memory, history, andthe senses. </p>