Qin Sun Stubis’ Historical Epic, 'Once Our Lives,' Shortlisted for 2025 Rubery Book Award

Real-life saga about four generations of Chinese women who survive war, revolution, and an ancient superstition chosen for contention in nonfiction category

WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, July 8, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- From a field of entries across the globe, Qin Sun Stubis’ historical epic, “Once Our Lives: Life, Death and Love in the Middle Kingdom,” has been shortlisted for the 2025 Rubery Book Award in the nonfiction category. This prestigious international award, based in England, was created as the answer to the Man Booker Prize for independent publishers and authors.

“Once Our Lives” is the real-life saga of four generations of Chinese women who survive war, revolution and the seemingly unshakeable effects of an ancient superstition. The book takes readers from cosmopolitan 1930s Shanghai to China’s dusty and dangerous “Wild West,” and is filled with true tales of pirates, prophecies, babies sold in opium dens, and a love story between a man whose fate was said to be sealed before he was born and a woman with three identities.

“Once Our Lives” debuted as a #1 Amazon New Release for 41 days and was chosen as the gold winner in the international Nonfiction Book Awards, the number-one winner of the PenCraft Book Awards for literary excellence in culture and history, the first-place winner of the Nellie Bly Awards for Journalistic Non-Fiction, and a winner of both a Best Book Award and a Readers’ Favorite Book Award. Ms. Magazine, Glamour Magazine UK, Grand Magazine, and Readers’ Favorite all selected “Once Our Lives” as a recommended read.

“I am greatly honored and more than a little humbled to learn that 'Once Our Lives' has been shortlisted for the Rubery Book Award,” says Ms. Stubis. “My fondest hope is that this true story of love, hope, heartbreak, and humanity will build bridges between East and West and help remind people everywhere of our common dreams and struggles.”

About the Author

Qin Sun Stubis was born amidst the rubble of a Shanghai shantytown during the Great Chinese Famine, which killed some 50 million people. She was left alone in her crude bamboo crib for two years while her parents worked to scrape together a few coins each day for their daily handful of rice. Growing up, she and her sisters were at first ignored by the rest of the family for being “worthless” girls and later shunned as political pariahs when their father was imprisoned.

Despite her family’s extreme poverty, Qin pulled herself up by reading forbidden books and winning admission to one of China’s most prestigious universities, graduating with a degree in English and English Literature. With the help of a powerful U.S. Senator, she emigrated to the United States to further her studies and became the first foreign student ever to earn a master’s degree from her university’s department of communications. Qin vowed to use her skills, education, and voice to speak up for the voiceless and to build greater understanding between Eastern and Western cultures.

For the past 18 years, she has been a newspaper columnist, exploring the rich legacy of Asian culture and the common links of humanity we all share. She also writes poems, essays, short stories, and original Chinese tall tales inspired by traditional Asian themes. More than 200 of her works have been published worldwide. You can find out more about her and her book, “Once Our Lives,” at www.QinSunStubis.com.


“Once Our Lives: Life, Death and Love in the Middle Kingdom” (Guernica Editions, ISBN # 978-1-77183-796-5, $21.95, 366 pp) is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, BookShop.org, and independent bookstores.

Mark Mark
Books Arts and Music
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