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A review by amyvl93
Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China by Jung Chang
informative
medium-paced
4.0
My final listen of 2024 was Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister which I found to be totally engaging and fascinating. I really enjoyed Jung Chang's Wild Swans which I read back in 2017, which was a memoir of the women in her family living in China. This book takes a similar approach, exploring the 20th century in China via the lives of the fascinating Soong sisters.
Despite studying this period of history before, I somehow had never come across the Soong's - who were all deeply embedded in the changes in power within the country. One sister, Ching-ling marries Sun Yat-sen, the 'father' of modern China who took power following the introduction of a republic before finding Communism, one, May-ling, marries Chiang Kai-Shek, the pre-Mao leader of China. Finally, Ei-ling becomes one of the wealthiest women in China, maintaining influence over both political leaders.
I found this to be an engaging and very personal look at the three women - bought to life via their numerous letters and correspondence. I appreciated how Chang showed how these women were both independent thinkers in their own right, as well as being used by male leaders for their own ends. I would have liked Chang to interrogate their actions a little more - particularly Ei-ling who isn't as central to the narrative as the book progresses but has many fingers in pies which are slightly under explained.
The thing that got in the way of me enjoying this totally was the audiobook version I listened to on Spotify was narrated by a very posh lady, who seemed to pronounce every Chinese name/location as if she had literally never seen that word before. I would love for this to be given an audiobook that has the flow it deserves.
Despite studying this period of history before, I somehow had never come across the Soong's - who were all deeply embedded in the changes in power within the country. One sister, Ching-ling marries Sun Yat-sen, the 'father' of modern China who took power following the introduction of a republic before finding Communism, one, May-ling, marries Chiang Kai-Shek, the pre-Mao leader of China. Finally, Ei-ling becomes one of the wealthiest women in China, maintaining influence over both political leaders.
I found this to be an engaging and very personal look at the three women - bought to life via their numerous letters and correspondence. I appreciated how Chang showed how these women were both independent thinkers in their own right, as well as being used by male leaders for their own ends. I would have liked Chang to interrogate their actions a little more - particularly Ei-ling who isn't as central to the narrative as the book progresses but has many fingers in pies which are slightly under explained.
The thing that got in the way of me enjoying this totally was the audiobook version I listened to on Spotify was narrated by a very posh lady, who seemed to pronounce every Chinese name/location as if she had literally never seen that word before. I would love for this to be given an audiobook that has the flow it deserves.