This book was given me to my grandmother it was one of the first biographies I ever read, and I have been constantly disappointed ever since, no-one can match Jung Chang's ability to tell a story.
It's a beautifully written story of a grandmother, mother and daughter. Each woman's life is very different and seems to typify a different era of Chinese history. While the historical and geographical setting is very different to our own, it is easy to identify with the women's feelings and desires. You cannot help but feel these women's pain but at the same time admire their strength and wonder if you would be so brave in the same tragic circumstances. The upside-down world of Mao ruled Communist China is masterfully recreated and it makes you wonder how such a thing could have happened a relatively short time ago.
When I read this book everything else in my life stopped. I could not help but be drawn into the world created by the author. Even years after reading it I still recall the way it touched me.
