My Life: A True Story of Sorrow and Strength

This wonderful memoir, wonderfully translated, is a celebration of the strength of a woman's love for children and her missing husband in the cruel and schizophrenic period of recent Chinese history. There are several "oh poor me" books out there, written by people who managed to escape the madness of Mao's communist dictatorship. This is the best one that I have read so far.

The book is easy to read. Although I heard stories of this sort previously, I gained a better understanding of the hardship the author endured. I was unable to control my tears as I read the stories. Like taking a dose of spiritual narcotic, reading this book helps me trivialize my daily challenges. Read this book if you ponder the meaning of life! When will we ever learn about the adverse effects of wars on people! Japanese invasion into China is a classic example of human cruelty.

A young girl falls in love during a time of war, and then struggles to keep her family safe in the midst of seething social unrest brought by the Communist takeover of China. Her courage and strength is inspiring and will move you to tears. Perfectly captures the time and place in an easy to read style.