Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Kan, a Chinese millennial and former New York Times reporter based in Beijing, offers an intimate look at the lives of three generations of her close-knit family, from her grandmother, who survived the Great Famine of 1959-1961, on to her principled mother, who sacrificed much to defy both her in-laws' wishes (by working as a teacher instead of helping with the family farm) and China's one-child policy (conceiving Kan, her second child, by secretly removing the government-required intrauterine device). This tale vividly illustrates the breadth of the changes China has undergone in recent decades-abruptly switching from population-boosting initiatives in the 1960s to the one-child rule, and from prohibiting to allowing rural people to migrate to Beijing-and how those changes have affected individual lives. While Kan shares her mother's independent spirit, researching the Tiananmen Square massacre and dating foreign men, the cultural forces she and her fellow millennials face are different. She describes many of them: the Chinese education system, the difficult lives of Chinese factory workers who produce goods for sale overseas, and the prejudice faced by rural workers in Beijing. Kan's candidness about Chinese culture and her experience, always mediated by affection for her country, makes this an invaluable resource to Western readers interested in Chinese life. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Since she was little, journalist Kan loved to hear family stories about when Chairman Mao and the Communist Party led her country into a bright, new future. Yet even then, the author knew some things were forbidden to be discussed. As she got older, Kan sought to understand what was happening in modern-day China, and she wanted people outside the country to understand as well; she felt Chinese media either lied or purposely covered up events and situations. For years, she kept this goal a secret, afraid revealing it would endanger her relatives or draw the disapproval of her family and friends. But through the encouragement of a teacher, exposure to the larger world in college, and various work-related experiences, she began to realize her dream of writing about China, its history and people. This book is the result-the author's life and family story, which includes a helpful time line that puts events in historical perspective. VERDICT Kan presents an engaging debut memoir that would make an excellent book club choice and has strong YA crossover appeal.-Susanne Lohkamp, -Multnomah Cty. Lib., Portland, OR © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A personal examination of rural China and its one-child policy by a millennial Chinese woman who eventually earned an education and employment as a journalist.A former reporter for the New York Times Beijing Bureau, Kan was born in 1989 in the village of Chaoyang, which was rebuilt after the great Tangshan earthquake of 1976. Since she was her mother's second child, her birth had to be hidden from the registrars; if the secret was revealed, her poor family of farmers would receive a fine that would be difficult for them to afford. In the end, her strong-willed mother was determined not to abort her. While the cost was considerableand they had to endure friction with their in-laws and shame within their communitythe family moved to a larger neighboring town where, unlike her cousins, she and her brother would have a chance to receive an education. Condemned to live in a tiny apartment crammed next to others, the author was subjected to prejudice about her accent and her looks, but she was able to validate herself through dedicated focus and fervent patriotism as a Young Pioneer. At school, she writes, "the lessons were meant to unify us, by pointing at a shared enemy for allmainly the British, Japanese, and Americans." As a child of conservative parents, Kan, who has no problem with candid introspection, also looked to her beloved grandmother Laolao. During her childhood, Laolao just barely escaped having her feet bound and expressed bitterness about her unjust treatment by the government, but she also automatically spouted the clichs about boys being superior to girls, to the author's dismay. Impressively, Kan beat the odds, managing to steer clear of the ingrained courting rituals and establish herself as a professional journalist.A remarkable multigenerational memoir that clearly explores "the real Chinaits beauty and ugliness, the weird and familiar, the joyful and sad, progressive and backward at the same time." Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
