Split

SPLIT is a raw and moving double memoir about survival, memory, and the power of truth. Told through the voices of a father and daughter, the book traces the decades-long fallout of a family torn apart during the height of the Satanic Panic.

Jack (James Fan), grew up in rural Taiwan surrounded by poverty, resilience, and the quiet strength of his family. His journey carried him across the ocean to America, where he built a life from nothing. In parallel, his daughter Ella (Lydia Knight) pieces together her fractured childhood—one marked by fear, manipulation, and resilience—as she seeks to understand the father she was taught to fear.

Through their intertwined stories, SPLIT explores how communities, courts, and churches were swept into a moral frenzy, allowing prejudice and paranoia to masquerade as protection. After decades of separation and fear, Ella confronts the greatest danger of her life—meeting the man she believed was trying to kill her. As father and daughter weave their stories together, SPLIT reveals the generational scars left by a cultural hysteria that targeted anyone outside the dominant narrative.

With unflinching honesty and moments of profound tenderness, this memoir is a gripping exploration of how memory is shaped, how families fracture, and how truth can emerge from decades of lies. Through a dedication to truth and reconciliation, James and Ella reclaim their voices, shining light on the dangers of fear-driven beliefs and the healing that comes from facing them.

For readers drawn to memoirs of family, trauma, and reconciliation, SPLIT offers both a gripping narrative and a haunting reflection on a cultural phenomenon that still echoes today.