Behind the Red Curtain, written by Vicki E. Panhuise, Ph.D., is a powerful memoir that brings readers into post–World War II China through the eyes of a 23-year-old American nurse whose life is forever altered by history in motion. Behind the Red Curtain tells the true story of Mary Reed Dewar, a young woman who leaves behind an orderly New Jersey upbringing to serve as a medical missionary in a country on the brink of revolution.
In 1947, Mary boards the Marine Lynx, a converted troopship bound for China, watching the Golden Gate fade into fog as she begins her first overseas mission. Assigned initially to Peiping (now Beijing), she navigates dust-choked streets by bicycle, learns language by ear, and practices medicine amid hyperinflation, shortages, and political uncertainty. By early 1948, she is sent to rural Shansi Province, where her work places her directly in the path of the advancing forces.
What follows becomes international news. As revolutionary front lines shift, a routine supply trip turns into a disappearance that leaves Mary and three fellow missionaries missing. Headlines appear back home — “Four Missionaries Missing in China” — while her family waits in agonizing silence, separated by an ocean and a nation at war.
Told in Mary’s own unmistakable voice and woven from letters, news clippings, and family conversations, Behind the Red Curtain is both an intimate personal narrative and a rare historical record. The memoir captures the daily realities of missionary medicine, the fragile bonds of cross-cultural friendship, and the resilience required to endure uncertainty when outcomes are anything but assured.
Behind the Red Curtain will resonate with readers interested in World War II aftermath history, missionary and medical memoirs, women’s history, and stories of courage lived far from headlines.
Behind the Red Curtain is available now at major retailers including
https://www.amazon.com/Behind-Red-Curtain-Dewar-words-ebook/dp/B0G6MQQFBY/
About the Author
Vicki E. Panhuise, Ph.D. is the author of Behind the Red Curtain. Drawing on extensive archival research, family correspondence, and firsthand accounts, Panhuise brings historical depth and emotional clarity to this true story of faith, service, and endurance at a pivotal moment in world history.
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