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A review by books4chess
More Than One Child: Memoirs of an Illegal Daughter by Shen Yang
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
"To this day, there is a paucity of literature about excess-birth children. If this continues, when we depart this life in the natural course of things, my generation will disappear without a trace. The passage of history smoothes over people's resentment and anger. Ten, twenty, a hundred years hence, who will remember us?"
Trigger warning: domestic abuse, emotional abuse.
What an absolutely marvellous piece of literature and soul searching from a wounded past delivered through hindsight. Shen Yang dug deep to recollect her childhood away from her family, hiding as an 'extra child' during strict-enforcement of the One Child Policy. She retells her journey and that of children with similar status to herself, shedding light on an often forgotten part of history.
I truly struggled when contemplating how to begin this review. Shen dug into her history of hiding, the institutional exclusions built into society to punish children whose only crime was to be born and the reality that money could buy silence. Where some had hukou's (local registration) to override their 'illegal' status, others were not allowed the privilege of education as punishment for their parents decisions. Whilst the book isn't an overt critique on society, it allows the reader to understand society of the time and the discrimination faced by second, third and fourth babies.
Shen managed to share her own childhood woes, happiness and shift of mindset as she met other illegal children. Interestingly, each found solace in community, regardless of the lack of change at home. Each chapter was captivating and the vocabulary and selected memories were easy to devour. I also adored the photos at the end, enabling me to add context to the previous content.
The true source of my admiration for the book came from the final chapters. Shen willingly chose to present her family through a lens other than her own lived experience and really gave context to the questionably unforgivable behaviour she endured whilst growing up. Where she used the body of her memoir to present history from her lived challenging upbringing, she presented a life jacket for those who mistreated her. Unwilling participants of the Cultural Revolution, Shen allowed the readers to understand why her caretakers had become so bitter and jaded, neither justifying nor judging their person but instead recognising that they were products of their environment. She explained how history affected her family and most impressively, how this had shaped her and she was seeking to do better to change her path.
I'm a big fan of memoirs, but truthfully, Shen is one of the first authors I've read to offer a fully rounded history of herself and the current events of the time. The Cultural Revolution is so undiscussed in western literature, as is the impact of the childhood policy and I'm in awe of her strength and decision to stand up for others who share the history of a hidden childhood.
Thank you for sharing your ARC with me Yangyang, I'm grateful.
Trigger warning: domestic abuse, emotional abuse.
What an absolutely marvellous piece of literature and soul searching from a wounded past delivered through hindsight. Shen Yang dug deep to recollect her childhood away from her family, hiding as an 'extra child' during strict-enforcement of the One Child Policy. She retells her journey and that of children with similar status to herself, shedding light on an often forgotten part of history.
I truly struggled when contemplating how to begin this review. Shen dug into her history of hiding, the institutional exclusions built into society to punish children whose only crime was to be born and the reality that money could buy silence. Where some had hukou's (local registration) to override their 'illegal' status, others were not allowed the privilege of education as punishment for their parents decisions. Whilst the book isn't an overt critique on society, it allows the reader to understand society of the time and the discrimination faced by second, third and fourth babies.
Shen managed to share her own childhood woes, happiness and shift of mindset as she met other illegal children. Interestingly, each found solace in community, regardless of the lack of change at home. Each chapter was captivating and the vocabulary and selected memories were easy to devour. I also adored the photos at the end, enabling me to add context to the previous content.
The true source of my admiration for the book came from the final chapters. Shen willingly chose to present her family through a lens other than her own lived experience and really gave context to the questionably unforgivable behaviour she endured whilst growing up. Where she used the body of her memoir to present history from her lived challenging upbringing, she presented a life jacket for those who mistreated her. Unwilling participants of the Cultural Revolution, Shen allowed the readers to understand why her caretakers had become so bitter and jaded, neither justifying nor judging their person but instead recognising that they were products of their environment. She explained how history affected her family and most impressively, how this had shaped her and she was seeking to do better to change her path.
I'm a big fan of memoirs, but truthfully, Shen is one of the first authors I've read to offer a fully rounded history of herself and the current events of the time. The Cultural Revolution is so undiscussed in western literature, as is the impact of the childhood policy and I'm in awe of her strength and decision to stand up for others who share the history of a hidden childhood.
Thank you for sharing your ARC with me Yangyang, I'm grateful.