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The long-awaited sequel to Wild Swans , the multi-million copy, international bestselling sensation that traces the history of modern China through the true stories of three generations of women in one family. Jung Chang''s epic family memoir, Wild Swans, defined a generation, chronicling the experiences of Jung, her mother, and her grandmother--"three daughters of China"--as China transformed from empire to Communist nation. Fly, Wild Swans continues the story of Jung''s family--and China--from the late 1970s until today. During that time, China rises from a decrepit and isolated state to world power challenging American dominance as Jung makes a new life in the West--one of the first Chinese to leave her homeland at the end of the Cultural Revolution. As Jung becomes a writer, her life remains intimately entwined with her native land, a relationship made more complex because her books are banned. A love letter to her mother, and a tribute to her grandmother and father, victims of the Cultural Revolution, Fly, Wild Swans reveals that for Jung, the past is never far away. It has shaped her, just as it has molded modern China and continues to influence its future. Today, China is again at another watershed moment: Chairman Xi Jinping seeks to return the country to the Maoist days, building a Communist state with capitalist features. This new Xi era is greatly affecting both Jung and her mother. Fly, Wild Swans brings their story into the present, offering an immersive, deeply moving, and unforgettable account of life in a communist dictatorship and the threats modern China poses to the international world order. It is family history at its best. Jung Chang is the author of Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, Empress Dowager Cixi; and Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister , as well as Mao: The Unknown Story , with her husband, Jon Halliday. She was born in Yibin, Sichuan Province, China, in 1952, and is the first person from the People''s Republic of China to receive a doctorate from a British university. She has been awarded a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) for services to literature and to history, and lives in London with her husband. ...
Summary
The magnificent follow-up to Wild Swans, the multimillion copy, internationally bestselling sensation that traces the history of modern China through the true stories of three generations of courageous women in one family.
“AT THE AGE OF FIFTEEN MY GRANDMOTHER became the concubine of a warlord general . . .” So begins Jung Chang’s epic family memoir, Wild Swans, which defines a generation. The book ends in 1978, when Deng Xiaoping opened the door of Communist China, and Jung—twenty-six years old and unstoppably curious, despite years of brainwashing— seized the propitious moment and became one of the first Chinese to leave the tightly sealed country and come to the West. Fly, Wild Swans chronicles her journey and that of her family, along with that of China, as it rose from a decrepit and isolated state to a world power challenging American dominance.
During those decades, although she lives in the West, Jung’s life intertwines with her native land in unexpected ways, a rare relationship made more complex because all her books are banned there. Her family story mirrors the ups and downs of China’s transformation, right up to today, as it enters another watershed. Chairman Xi Jinping’s attempt to return China to the anti-American Maoist past has a devastating impact on Jung’s life: She is unable to go to her mother’s deathbed.
Fly, Wild Swans is Jung’s love letter and emotional tribute to her extraordinary mother. Profoundly moving, it is filled with drama, love, curiosity and incredible history—both personal and global. Told in Jung’s clear, honest and compelling voice, it is memoir writing at its best.
