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Wild Swans Three Daughters Of China Juan Book Review

¶ … Wild Swans Three Daughters of China Juan Chang's Wild Swans Three Daughters of China is a delightful combination of a historical epic of China from 1924 to 1978 and a novel that unfolds the story of 'Three Daughters' (Juan Chang herself, her mother and maternal grandmother) within that same historical period.

The book begins by giving the reader a view and insight into life in China in the 1920's through the simple device of narrating Chang's grandmother's experiences as a concubine to a powerful Chinese warlord and the story of her eventual escape. From the 1920's through to the 1960's, the history of early 20th century China and Communist China under Mao unfolds as Chang continues on her quest to chronicle the life and times of three generations of her own family. The 1940's, 50's and 60's act as a setting to...

Chang's own parents are seen going through the same curve, beginning with firm belief in Mao's ideology and their enjoyment of "power and privilege" to confusion and fear and finally spiraling downwards to imprisonment.
Juan Chang herself goes through allegiance to Communism before she gets disillusioned after witnessing her parents' degeneration from a position of power to becoming the victims of their own movement. Going on the good old adage that nothing substitutes for 'personal experience, Chang describes…

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