Books with author Elizabeth Benning

“The Good Chinese Daughter: Growing up in China and in America,” is an inspiring memoir of a successful woman, mother and author, looking for unconditional love from her mother who almost “aborted” her. After her mother divorced her first husband, she kept reminding her daughter that she might not have been born.Elizabeth, born in Shanghai, was traumatized as a child as she watched the cruelty and brutality of the Imperial Japanese army in Manila, The Philippines. It was there she learned to deal with the fact that the man she called “Dad” was her stepfather.Her mother, a socialite, spent little time with her daughter who was reared by her beloved amah, Ah Woo. Elizabeth, the “good” Chinese daughter - obedient, loyal and gracious, true to her Chinese tradition and Catholic upbringing - dreamed of closer relationship with her mother and stepfather.Caught between two worlds - her Chinese upbringing and adjusting to life in the U.S. when the family moved to California, she searched for her true self and personal identity in the shadow of her strong-willed, dominant mother. In spite of the inevitable tensions that marked the relationship, she served as her mother’s right hand, helping to raise her five younger siblings and to manage the household.All of us search, at one time or another in our lives, for the assurance of love and acceptance from loved ones, whether parents, spouse, children or friends. As Elizabeth raised her own family in the U.S. which includes two sons and their spouses, seven grandchildren and a husband of great renown in the field of bioengineering, she kept looking for the something that was “missing” in her life.Finally she found it in Christian Meditation - the peace that serves to bridge the gap between her mother and herself and other relationships in her life. During her Mom’s waning years, they came to something of a reconciliation. Elizabeth found peace and a deeper integration of her life experiences through contemplative prayer - a form of communion with the transcendent taking place in total silence and stillness.

On a broken ship orbiting a doomed sun, dwellers have grown complacent with their aging metal world. But when a serving girl frees a captive noblewoman, the old order is about to change...Ariane, Prince of the House of Rule, was known to be fiercely cold-blooded. But severing an angel's wings on the battlefield - even after she had surrendered - proved her completely without honor. Captive, the angel Perceval waits for Ariane not only to finish her off - but to devour her very memories and mind. Surely her gruesome death will cause war between the houses - exactly as Ariane desires. But Ariane's plan may yet be opposed, for Perceval at once recognizes the young servant charged with her care.Rien is the lost child: her sister. Soon they will escape, hoping to stop the impending war and save both their houses. But it is a perilous journey through the crumbling hulk of a dying ship, and they do not pass unnoticed. Because at the hub of their turning world waits Jacob Dust, all that remains of God, following the vapor wisp of the angel. And he knows they will meet very soon.Originally published in 2007 as Dust.

Island Boy is a tear jerking, heart warming, true story of a young Jamaican boy, who lost father at an early age, and how he coped. It's full full of hope, and proves that dreams really do come true. This book will inspire fathers to see how important they are to their children. This book is based on a true story about my Jamaican husband, Junior Bernard's life as a young island boy. His love inspired me to write this story.