Entry tags:

around the world in 100 books, book review, memoir

The Good Women of China
34. The Good Women of China by Xinran (memoir)

During the relatively open period in the 1990s, Xinran was the presenter of a popular radio show, Words on the Night Breeze. When she became interested in learning more about the lives of her fellow Chinese women, her position as a journalist and her ability to gain the trust of these women allowed her to hear many stories about their lives. The book was published in England after she moved there in 1997.

Xinran had me hooked when she explained, in her prologue, that she had risked her life fighting off a mugger in London in order to preserve her manuscript because she wasn't sure she would be willing or able to recreate it:

However, I wasn't sure that I could put myself through the extremes of feeling provoked by writing the book again. Reliving the stories of the women I had met had been painful, and it had been harder still to order my memories and find language adequate to express them. In fighting for that bag, I was defending my feelings, and the feelings of Chinese women. The book was the result of so many things which, once lost, could never be found again. When you walk into your memories, you are opening a door to the past; the road within has many branches, and the route is different every time.

After reading the rest of the book, I understand where she's coming from. The stories she recounts, from personal interviews with Chinese women, phone calls to the radio station, and letters from her listeners, are heart-wrenching. A large part of the appeal of this book is that she doesn't forget that she too is a Chinese woman. Stories of her life growing up during the Cultural Revolution are woven into her narrative.

The stories in The Good Women of China cover many aspects of women's lives in China, from marriage and children to rape and sexual abuse, from religion to mental illness, from love to suicide. Xinran's writing is always engaging, and the stories are gripping even when they are tragic.

I read this for my personal World Lit Challenge, and it's a perfect choice for any similar challenge.

Books read: 34/300
Pages read: 8,631/75,000