Stories of the Sahara

The Sahara is the largest hot desert in the world and among the most sparsely populated, spanning 103,000 square miles of dunes and flatlands. How did a fiercely cosmopolitan Taiwanese woman end up living in one of the harshest territories on earth? What compelled her to move there? And once she got there, what happened?

Stories of the Sahara, the book that answers these questions, has captivated millions of readers to date. First published in Chinese in 1976 to rapturous success, Sanmao’s memoir and travelogue launched its author as a literary celebrity across Asia. Initially serialised in the Taiwanese United Daily News, the candid intimacy and liveliness of Sanmao’s writing cemented her status as an enduring cultural icon and figure of quixotic fascination. Coming to public attention during the prohibitive atmosphere of 1970s martial-law era Taiwan, Sanmao’s free-spirited itinerancy enthralled readers and demonstrated an exciting model of Asian femininity
that centred personal agency, resourcefulness and reinvention.

Full book

Support our work