A review by crothe77
Tiananmen Square by Lai Wen

slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

 
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Tiananmen Square by Lai Wen is a first person-POV historical coming of age novel that draws from the author’s life growing up during the 70s and 80s in China all the way up to the student protests of Tiananmen Square. As a child, Lai Wen spent much of her time either at home or with her group of friends and things change as she and her friends are brought in by the government after a prank goes wrong and her grandmother gets dementia. Everything leads up to the dissatisfaction that led Lai Went to participate in the protests.

It is such a gift that we have a voice from the student protests at Tiananmen Square as not only does it serve as an account of that event, but it helps to show that things haven’t changed. Young people are a large part of political change because they grow up with the results of what the previous generation did. Lai Wen’s father was brought in by the government during the Cultural Revolution and it had a massive impact on him and their family even if very little is known about what exactly happened to him, but we see the shadows of it in how Lai Wen’s parents and grandmother responded to her going to see Mao’s body. 

What I really liked was how we got to take our time to see the lead up to the protests and see how little things in Lai Wen’s personal relationships, her family history, the world around her, the people who influenced her, and more impacted her decision to be involved. It’s rarely just one decision that drives someone to political activism; it’s a culmination of things. The passion for books from around the world also felt truly relevant to today as we continue to promote authors from as many backgrounds and walks of life as possible. 

The relationship I appreciated the most was Lai Wen and her grandmother’s. It wasn’t always smooth sailing but you could see the genuine love they held for each other as her grandmother attacked a man who made Lai Wen uncomfortable and Lai Wen cared for her grandmother when the dementia got worse. Her grandmother’s influence continues even after her death and it’s so beautiful.

Content warning for depictions of period-typical fatphobia and homophobia, mentions of torture, and brief depictions of sexual content between students.

I would recommend this to readers looking for books from Chinese authors about what happened between the Cultural Revolution and Tiananmen Square, those looking for a work centered on student protestors, and those as eager for a voice from someone who was at Tiananmen Square as I was.

 
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