In 1917, at the dawn of the Chinese Revolution, Yunhong grows up in the southern China countryside and falls in love with the son of a wealthy landlord--but on the night of her wedding, her brother destroys the marriage before it has lasted even a day. Yunhong’s daughter Yuexin will never know her father. She passes that sorrow on to her daughters Hongxing and Yonghong, who come of age in the years following Mao’s death, battling the push and pull of political forces as they forge their own paths. Each generation guards its secrets, leaving Emily, living in contemporary America, to piece together what actually happened between her mother and her sister, and to understand the weight of their shared history.
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Rating: 5 Stars
My Review: The female members of a family are born with a birthmark. It links them together so that they can never be parted from one another. It is a source of pride to some and shame to others. Through a changing country and political climate, this family carries burdens of the past through generations. Does love always end in sorrow?
This book was so beautiful. I was captivated from the first page. The beautiful writing pulled me in initially, but the story captured me soon after. Experiencing the Chinese Revolution from the perspective of a child and young woman removed from it was so interesting. Experiencing the loss of Yunhong’s innocence to the world was heartbreaking. You could really see how the hurt of mother transferred to daughter throughout the family line. In Yuexin’s treatment of her marriage and how it affected Hongxing and Yonghong. Yonghong’s attitude toward love and how Emily was affected. How a family that was once so close could be irrevocably changed by a decision. This is a book I will be thinking about for a while. I recommend this book to anyone looking to branch out of their usual genres. It is a great book.
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