We have no surviving photos of the Sun family’s Shanghai home as Isabel knew it. Though the 1930s structure still stands and has a fresh coat of exterior paint, the interior is depressingly dilapidated.
Isabel and Claire first visited the house together in 2008—seen here from the opposite side of Zhenning Road.
Isabel on the first floor.
Mother and daughter on the landing.
The communal kitchen: hard to imagine cooking here.
The former dining room, occupied by Isabel’s father during the 1960s and then Mr Cheng from the 1970s on.
Isabel in the former garden, now paved over, outside the dining room.