In addition to chairing Freedom House, Ms. Lord's works have received numerous awards and been translated into 15–20 languages. Her true stories of Chinese people, Legacies: A Chinese Mosaic, was also a bestseller and chosen by Time as one of the five best non-fiction works of the year. Her children's book, In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson, has become a classic used in schools nationwide. The Middle Heart (1996) spans 70 years of modern Chinese history, ending in 1989 with the student-led demonstrations at Tiananmen Square.

Spring Moon (1981), which spans the times from pre-revolutionary China to Nixon's visit, was an international bestseller and American Book Award nominee for best first novel. Winston became a principal adviser to Henry Kissinger on relations with the PRC, and in 1973, he and Bette had a visit with her family in the PRC, a visit which inspired Bette to write Spring Moon. Sansan was a bridesmaid at Bette's wedding to Winston Lord, a Foreign Service Officer. Bette made more than 250 pages of notes, and then wrote the book, going back to Sansan with more questions and interviews along the way. In 1962, as refugees surged into Hong Kong, Bette's mother, Dora Bao, conceived and carried out a plan to get her third daughter, nicknamed Sansan (Putonghua, Sānsān, 'Threethree') out of the People's Republic of China both Sansan and Bette wanted to tell Sansan's story, so they made tape recordings, first of Sansan telling her story, then of Bette interviewing Sansan. Lord worked as Assistant to the Director at the East-West Center, in Hawai`i, and as program officer at the Fulbright Program for professors, in Washington, D.C.

Eighth Moon by Bette Bao Lord