2 Books Like Silk

Revisiting Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China after many years, in anticipation of the sequel, 35 years on, it’s still an extraordinary read, bringing to light the history of hidden twentieth century China through the lives of three generations of Chinese women. The ascent and overwhelming power of Mao Zedong , instigating blind obedience, collective insanity, deprivation and persecution, unfolds as a hyper-dystopian nightmare: ‘He ruled by getting people to hate each other… managed to turn the people into the ultimate weapon of dictatorship’.

Neighbours, friends, family members were pitted against each other; flowers, grass, sparrows were declared bourgeois enemies of the people, to be ruthlessly eliminated. Millions of people died.

Virtually every page delivers some kind of new derangement, but it’s also a tale of fortitude, resilience and survival against impossible odds. Wild Swans has lost none of its first time impact and stands as a stark warning of… show more.

"My Brilliant Friend" is the first of four books following the lives of fictional characters, Elena Greco, and her close friend, Raffaella Cerullo (Lila). The other three books are "The Story of a New Name", "Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay", and "The Story of the Lost Child". The books are full of well-crafted characters, with their lives set mainly in Naples. I read all four books back-to-back and loved them. An excellent translation by Ann Goldstein helped. The story carries you along, through ups and downs, but you really need to know how the relationships develop and how their lives pan out. A captivating read, and one I will remember for a long time.