Veronica Li

Thanks for visiting my page.

I'm the author of four books. I write to understand the puzzles of my life, and it has turned out that what puzzles me puzzles other people as well.

My first big puzzle was my job. I was the World Bank's loan officer for Somalia shortly before the country collapsed. At the time, the west was pouring money into Somalia to reward it for defecting from the Soviet camp. The investments were also to help the country develop into a modern state. Despite these efforts, the Somali government crumbled and the country plunged back into the Dark Ages. I wanted to understand what had gone wrong. After researching into Somali history and culture, I wove them into a spy thriller called NIGHTFALL IN MOGADISHU.

My second big puzzle was my mother. Like a dutiful Chinese daughter, I took my ailing parents into my home. My father was quirky as usual, no puzzle there, but my beautiful, saintly mother astonished me with her devilish behavior. I wondered who this stranger was. Fortunately, she loved to tell stories about her life. So I sat her down and recorded her stories. A fascinating tale unfolded. I can now say I understand my mother and love her for who she was. The title of the book, JOURNEY ACROSS THE FOUR SEAS, is the journey she took to bring her children to the Golden Mountain, also called America.

My third big puzzle was how to care for my parents. When they were too old to live independently, I moved them into my home. Chinese children are taught to make extreme sacrifices for their parents. But when the pressure of caregiving became overwhelming, I had to read Confucius to find out what exactly he said I should do. What I learned inspired my third book CONFUCIUS SAYS.

My latest book, published in 2020, was pure joy to write. I coauthored my husband's memoir, called Viking Voyager: An Icelandic Memoir. I'd met Sverrir Sigurdsson, an Icelander, at the World Bank where we both worked. I’d visited Iceland many times since our marriage and enjoyed its spectacular landscapes, but helping Sverrir write his memoir made me appreciate the Viking heritage of travel and adventure. The Icelandic word for stupid is heimskur, which literally means “homebody.” In other words, a person who stays at home is stupid. Since Sverrir’s early childhood, when Allied forces invaded Iceland and turned it into a fortress to stop Hitler from advancing toward North America, Sverrir’s sight has always faced outwards. It’s no wonder he went on to conquer (without the looting and raping) thirty countries on five continents. I’m glad he finally settled in the Washington, DC area, where we now live.

I grew up mostly in Hong Kong and immigrated to the U.S. at fifteen. I have a B.A. in English from University of California, Berkeley and a master's in International Affairs from Johns Hopkins University. I was also a journalist for the Asian Wall Street Journal and other news organizations.