Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister
Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China (From the bestselling author of Wild Swans)
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4.8 • 6 Ratings
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- £5.99
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
*SHORTLISTED FOR THE HWA NON-FICTION CROWN*
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 the 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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Chang (Wild Swans) seamlessly chronicles the lives and marriages of the Soong sisters in this captivating triple biography. Born to a prominent Shanghai family in the final years of the 19th century, the sisters rose to national prominence in 1915, when Ching-ling ("Red Sister") married Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the Republic of China. Meanwhile, Ei-ling ("Big Sister") went into business with her husband, future finance minister H.H. Kung, starting on a path that would make her one of China's richest women. But it was May-ling ("Little Sister") who made the most auspicious match by marrying Nationalist leader Chiang Kei-shek in 1927. According to Chang, May-ling, among other heroic deeds, helped to peacefully resolve the 1936 Xian Incident, when Chiang was detained by two of his generals, thereby saving her husband's life and preventing a full-fledged civil war from breaking out on the eve of WWII. Political tensions would eventually tear the sisters apart, however, as Ching-ling broke with her family to become vice chairman of Communist China under Mao Zedong. Chang's artful descriptions track the sisters as they amass riches and influence, outwit opponents, and help to mold modern China and Taiwan. This juicy tale will satisfy readers interested in politics, world affairs, and family dynamics.
