wild swans three daughters of china book review

This is an epic personal story of life in China over much of the 20th century, told through the stories of three generations of women in one family. What I thought was especially fascinating was to see how the author changes from idealistic Communist filled with pride and love for Chairman Mao to disillusionment as she discovers the political corruption of the party, resulting in the deaths and destruction of millions of Chinese.Excellent writing and excellent story. We see the transformation of the country and the drastic change to the lives of Chinese people at all levels.

But their lives are filled with turmoil as the country goes through the Great Leap Forward and the devastating Cultural Revolution. The story then follows her mother who grows up during the Japanese occupation of Manchuria and becomes a very powerful member of the Communist Party. The book starts with Jung Chang's grandmother, who hyad her feet bound and as a beautiful young woman, made a very fortunate match as the concubine yof a general. Their lives cover a very turbulent time period in China's history and it's fascinating to see the difference in choices and the huge changes going on in China. This memoir recounts the story of three generations of Chinese women, the author, her mother, and her grandmother. As the story of each generation unfolds, Chang captures in gripping, moving-and ultimately uplifting-detail the cycles of violent drama visited on her own family and millions of others caught in the whirlwind of history.

The story of three generations in twentieth-century China that blends the intimacy of memoir and the panoramic sweep of eyewitness history-a bestselling classic in thirty languages with more than ten million copies sold around the world, now with a new introduction from the author.Īn engrossing record of Mao’s impact on China, an unusual window on the female experience in the modern world, and an inspiring tale of courage and love, Jung Chang describes the extraordinary lives and experiences of her family members: her grandmother, a warlord’s concubine her mother’s struggles as a young idealistic Communist and her parents’ experience as members of the Communist elite and their ordeal during the Cultural Revolution.Ĭhang was a Red Guard briefly at the age of fourteen, then worked as a peasant, a “barefoot doctor,” a steelworker, and an electrician.

Wild swans three daughters of china book review