riverECHO

Although it took me two tries to get into it at first, I became obsessed with this book. It was by far one of the most amazing stories I have ever read and I was so sad when it finally ended. Wild Swans is a memior told by Jung Chang who was born in China in 1952. She shares her life story as well as the story of her mother and grandmother, all of whom come to question the brutal and brain-washing regime of Mao. Although Jung grows up in an elite sector at the time, her privileges and rights are soon wiped out. Her mother is detained and tourtured, her father sent to a prison camp and her grandmother left to take care of five young children. Jung is left with no choice but to join the Red Guards and face a country whose people have turned ugly from the inside out. This is one of those stories that makes me appreciate the freedom that we do have.