Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China

(Paperback)

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A major new biography from the internationally bestselling author of Wild Swans, Mao and Empress Dowager Cixi- a gripping story of sisterhood, revolution and betrayal, and three women who helped shape the course of modern Chinese history. *SHORTLISTED FOR THE HWA NON-FICTION CROWN 2020* Meet the three women who helped shape the course of modern Chinese history; a gripping story of sisterhood and betrayal from the bestselling author of Wild Swans. They were the most famous sisters in China. As the country battled seismic transformations these three women left an indelible mark on history. Red Sister rose to be Mao's vice-chair. Little Sister became first lady of pre-Communist Nationalist China. Big Sister made herself one of country's richest women. Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister takes us on a sweeping journey from exiles' quarters in Japan and Berlin to secret meeting rooms in Moscow, and from the compounds of the Communist elite in Beijing to the corridors of power in democratic Taiwan. By turns intimate and epic, Jung Chang reveals the lives of three extraordinary women who helped shape twentieth-century China.

Reviews

Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister is a monumental work, worthy both of Jung Changs Mao and of the great, rambling, heterogeneous Chinese folk epics of the oral past, such as The Water Margin and The Three Kingdoms. Its three fairy-tale heroines, poised between east and west, spanned three centuries, two continents and a revolution, with consequences that reverberate, perhaps now more than ever, in all our lives to this day. -- Hilary Spurling * Spectator *
Outstanding... As with her previous books, most famously Wild Swans, it is Changs sympathetic, storytellers eye her attention to deeply human detail during the most extraordinary circumstances that makes her work remarkable. Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister is another triumph. -- William Moore * Evening Standard *
The Soong sisters were an extraordinary trio Jung Chang has shown, in books such as Wild Swans, her instinct for a compelling story, and that instinct stands her in good stead here as she weaves her way through the complex history of China from the 1880s to the 1970s Well worth reading, in particular for the way it shows how powerful women have helped to shape modern China. At a time when, 70 years after Maos victory, the countrys political leadership contains almost no prominent women at all, that is a particularly apposite message to hear. -- Rana Mitter * Sunday Times *
Chang is too deft a biographer to tell you how to think. The sisters are sage and foolish, selfless and vain, brave and fearful, loyal and treacherous... It is up to the reader to decide if the Soongs are fairytale princesses or wicked stepsisters... The sisters were divided by politics, united by love. Even as you recoil from their actions, you are moved by their bond. In this lucid, wise, forgiving biography Chang gives a new twist to an old line. Behind every great man... is a Soong sister. -- Laura Freeman * The Times *
One of this autumn's biggest reads, it's an astounding story told with verve and insight. * Stylist *

Author Bio

Jung Chang is the internationally bestselling author of Wild Swans- Three Daughters of China; Mao- The Unknown Story (with Jon Halliday); and Empress Dowager Cixi- The Concubine who Launched Modern China. Her books have been translated into over 40 languages and sold more than 15 million copies outside Mainland China, where they are banned. She was born in China in 1952, and came to Britain in 1978. She lives in London.