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Journal Entry 1 by msjoanna from Columbia, Missouri USA on Friday, June 01, 2007
 I read this book quite a while ago, but never registered it. I really enjoyed the book. The writing style was clear and interesting and brought an amazing story to life. Before reading this book, I had little background in Chinese history, but the events were contextualized clearly and I was able to follow the details.
Highly recommended.
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From Publishers Weekly
Bursting with drama, heartbreak and horror, this extraordinary family portrait mirrors China's century of turbulence. Chang's grandmother, Yu-fang, had her feet bound at age two and in 1924 was sold as a concubine to Beijing's police chief. Yu-fang escaped slavery in a brothel by fleeing her "husband" with her infant daughter, Bao Qin, Chang's mother-to-be. Growing up during Japan's brutal occupation, free-spirited Bao Qin chose the man she would marry, a Communist Party official slavishly devoted to the revolution. In 1949, while he drove 1000 miles in a jeep to the southwestern province where they would do Mao's spadework, Bao Qin walked alongside the vehicle, sick and pregnant (she lost the child). Chang, born in 1952, saw her mother put into a detention camp in the Cultural Revolution and later "rehabilitated." Her father was denounced and publicly humiliated; his mind snapped, and he died a broken man in 1975. Working as a "barefoot doctor" with no training, Chang saw the oppressive, inhuman side of communism. She left China in 1978 and is now director of Chinese studies at London University. Her meticulous, transparent prose radiates an inner strength.
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Journal Entry 4 by krin511 from Olney, Maryland USA on Sunday, March 23, 2008
While I've read about China in bits and pieces in fiction, this is the first comprehensive nonfiction book I read on China's history in the twentieth century as told through a family's harrowing ordeal. What struck me the most is how the shifting political alliances meant that anyone could be an "enemy" at any time. I also came to admire Jung's parents for sticking to their principles even when it meant exile and harsh punishment.
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Journal Entry 5 by krin511 at sent via media mail in Mailed to another BC member, a fellow bookcrosser -- Controlled Releases on Friday, March 28, 2008
Released 4 yrs ago (3/28/2008 UTC) at sent via media mail in Mailed to another BC member, a fellow bookcrosser -- Controlled Releases WILD RELEASE NOTES:
RELEASE NOTES:
Mailed to blackadder75
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Journal Entry 7 by blackadder75 at Reverse Wishlist Book Relay, Bookrelay -- Controlled Releases on Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Released 3 yrs ago (12/3/2008 UTC) at Reverse Wishlist Book Relay, Bookrelay -- Controlled Releases CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Sent to supertalya.
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Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China
