A review by gabmc
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang

4.0

I learned so much from this beautifully written memoir about life in China in the twentieth century. Jung Chang starts this epic story by documenting her grandmother's life as a bound footed concubine to a warlord in China in the 1920s. As the battle between the Kuomintang and the Communists rages throughout China, her mother becomes a Communist and believes in Mao with the idealism of youth. Her parents become senior officials in the Communist Party and for a time, life is good. But with the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, everyone is under suspicion, even officials fully supportive to Mao's regime. Her parents fall from grace and are sent to 're-education' camps which are little more than gulags. By the time Mao dies in 1976, the author is in her early 20s and hoping to go to university. This book demonstrated to me the power of the human spirit and made me really sad for the millions who lost their lives. Definitely worth reading.