OCTOBER 2012 - AudioFile
Joy Osmanski recounts author Jung Chang’s own story of three generations of women in her family—grandmother, mother, and daughter (the author herself)—who survived the tumult of China throughout the twentieth century. Osmanski is an outstanding storyteller who painstakingly delivers the daunting history of China from the Manchu Empire of sword-bearing warlords to the Cultural Revolution of Chairman Mao, as seen by these women. The stories are true, unbelievable, and sometimes hair-raising—and will mesmerize listeners as Osmanski brings every bit of the author’s passion to her performance. B.J.P. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Bursting with drama, heartbreak and horror, this extraordinary family portrait mirrors China's century of turbulence. Chang's grandmother, Yu-fang, had her feet bound at age two and in 1924 was sold as a concubine to Beijing's police chief. Yu-fang escaped slavery in a brothel by fleeing her ``husband'' with her infant daughter, Bao Qin, Chang's mother-to-be. Growing up during Japan's brutal occupation, free-spirited Bao Qin chose the man she would marry, a Communist Party official slavishly devoted to the revolution. In 1949, while he drove 1000 miles in a jeep to the southwestern province where they would do Mao's spadework, Bao Qin walked alongside the vehicle, sick and pregnant (she lost the child). Chang, born in 1952, saw her mother put into a detention camp in the Cultural Revolution and later ``rehabilitated.'' Her father was denounced and publicly humiliated; his mind snapped, and he died a broken man in 1975. Working as a ``barefoot doctor'' with no training, Chang saw the oppressive, inhuman side of communism. She left China in 1978 and is now director of Chinese studies at London University. Her meticulous, transparent prose radiates an inner strength. Photos. BOMC alternate. (Sept.)
Library Journal
Wild Swans is a memoir of three generations of women growing up in 20th-century China. Chang, the author, is the final link in this chain. The story reads like the sweeping family sagas of genre fiction but rises far above the norm. The characters are well drawn, the events are riveting, and the story teaches lessons of history as well as lessons of the heart. It also allows listeners to visit a world unfamiliar to most Westerners. The author brings memories of a foreign life and illuminates them with graceful prose. The narration by Anna Massey is excellent, as are the production values. This is a good choice for public libraries as well as academic libraries with a popular listening component. Multicultural collections will also benefit from this recording.-Jacqueline Smith, Philadelphia Coll. of Pharmacy & Science Lib.
From the Publisher
"An inspiring tale of women who survived every kind of hardship, deprivation and political upheaval with their humanity intact." —Hillary Clinton, O, The Oprah Magazine
The New Yorker
"Her family chronicle resembles a popular novel that stars strong, beautiful women and provides cameo roles for famous men....But Wild Swans is no romance. It's a story...about the survival of a Chinese family through a century of disaster."
Hillary Clinton
"An inspiring tale of women who survived every kind of hardship, deprivation and political upheaval with their humanity intact."
Time
"A mesmerizing memoir."
Newsday
"Wild Swans is riveting. It's blindingly good: a mad adventure story, a fairy tale of courage, and a tale of atrocities. You can't, as they say, put it down."
Time
"A mesmerizing memoir."
The New Yorker
"Her family chronicle resembles a popular novel that stars strong, beautiful women and provides cameo roles for famous men....But Wild Swans is no romance. It's a story...about the survival of a Chinese family through a century of disaster."
OCTOBER 2012 - AudioFile
Joy Osmanski recounts author Jung Chang’s own story of three generations of women in her family—grandmother, mother, and daughter (the author herself)—who survived the tumult of China throughout the twentieth century. Osmanski is an outstanding storyteller who painstakingly delivers the daunting history of China from the Manchu Empire of sword-bearing warlords to the Cultural Revolution of Chairman Mao, as seen by these women. The stories are true, unbelievable, and sometimes hair-raising—and will mesmerize listeners as Osmanski brings every bit of the author’s passion to her performance. B.J.P. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine
