The friends of Stephen Soong

Roland Soong has coauthored The Soong's Living Room: FromQian Zhongshu to Eileen Chang, a biography of his father, Stephen Soong.

In 1995, writer Eileen Chang (Zhang Ailing) was found dead in her apartment in the United States.

To many people's surprise, when Chang's will was read it was discovered that the author had left all her possessions to Hong Kong couple Stephen Soong (1919-96) and his wife, Mae Fong Soong (1919-2007).

The will made celebrities of the couple, but Stephen Soong was already well-known in literary circles by his various pen names, such as Lin Yiliang. He was an accomplished translator and literary critic, and had close relationships with several eminent writers and critics in modern Chinese literature, such as Qian Zhongshu (1910-98), Fu Lei (1908-66) and Wu Xinghua (1921-66).

Now the couple's son, Roland Soong, has coauthored a book, The Soong's Living Room: From Qian Zhongshu to Eileen Chang, a biography of Stephen Soong.

A series of serialized interviews and articles in the Guangzhou-based newspaper Nanfang Daily in 2012 inspired Roland to publish the book.

Roland is already well-known to fans of Chang because he became the executor of Chang's possessions after his parents died. He is also famous for his influential English-language China-focused blog EastSouthWestNorth.

The book focuses on Roland's family history, his parents' lives, and Stephen Soong's education and activities related to literature, film, and his friendship with Qian, Fu, Wu and Chang.

It is based on Roland's memory, public information and manuscripts and private correspondence between Stephen Soong and friends.

It reveals details of Stephen Soong's family background, education, personality, marriage and literary activities. It also carries a large quantity of photos, manuscripts and correspondence that have never before been seen in public.