Wild Swans Three Daughters of China

Best Books About China's Cultural Revolution, Mao

Wild Swans Three Daughters of China, by Jung Chang, is one of those page-turner books that kept me reading long after lights-out, and with some 676 pages in my paperback copy, that made for a lot of long nights! In parts, the subject matter -- families torn apart, famine, injustice, violent deaths -- can upset readers with especially tender hearts, but the rest of us can read on, and learn and enjoy.

I have read this book several times,  several years apart, and each time gain a better understanding of how a small group of people (The Gang of Five) were able to control and shape a generation. That China has been able to move forward so rapidly following such a devastation period in its long history continues to amaze me. This is a resilient culture!

Wild Swans offers an excellent overview of China's recent history around the time of the Cultural Revolution, and it's written as seen through the eyes of three women. (It's set in various locations in China, so the reader gets a sense of place, as well.) You are drawn into their lives, and come to care deeply about the characters. Their stories all ring true, and gave me, for one, a better understanding of the forces that had shaped those generations.

Wild Swans won the 1993 British Book of the Year; Jung Chang was the first person from the People's Republic of China to receive a doctorate from a British university (1982). Overall, this an excellent book that offers information, insight and a good read, all at the same time. Highly recommended.