Call Me Tai Tai

What would you do if given the chance to relocate to a far-off country, leaving everything you know behind?


Part love story, part travelogue, Call Me Tai Tai explores author Joan Kelleher’s life-changing journey as she follows her husband to 1980’s China. Departing her beloved Hawaii, where she raised her children and carved out a career, it’s Joan’s time to leave the nest. Throwing caution to the wind, she gives up her predictable future to follow her instincts and take the biggest gamble of her life.


But it wouldn’t be just a simple move. She’d need to leave her grown son, who had been diagnosed four years previously, with a crippling mental illness. Still, his doctors believed his parents’ relocation could be the change he needed to find more independence. And maybe, Joan hoped, it could also be the chance she needed to salvage her broken marriage.


For anyone looking to begin anew or find their footing after their children have left the nest, this memoir can stand as a rallying cry and inspiration. A two-year assignment turned into many more and Call Me Tai Tai recounts Joan’s adventures, from the humbling spiritual visits to Tibet to her discovery of a love for hunting for antiques. Armchair travelers will delight in this breathtaking tour of the scenic beauty and culture of Asia, that is as much a chronicle of change and self-discovery. Throughout her journey, Joan provides an heartfelt recounting of both the beauty and the hardships of the land, while introducing a myriad of unforgettable characters as Joan rediscovers herself.


Insightful, poignant, and exciting, Call Me Tai Tai is the story of an inquisitive, adventurous heart in a magnificent and magical world. At its heart, it is the universal story of the power that love and faith can have on a family.