Thursday, April 28, 2016

X is for Xinran: author of The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices

Image result for the good women of china image
I read The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices by Xinran many years ago. It was the early 2000's and my brother was in China with the Peace Corps teaching English to University students. The book tells harrowing, heartbreaking and inspiring stories Chinese women told to Xinran when she hosted a radio show from 1989-1997. The show, called Words on the Night Breeze, focused on women's issues and their stories. Xinran later moved to London and compiled stories into the book. She has since written several more books that I have not read.

The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices is not an easy book to read. The stories made me realize what a sheltered life I've led and how lucky I am. I still wonder if I could have survived in some of the situations these brave women lived. 
I remember very few books that I read and even less detail of the content. But this book, I remembered how it touched me and made me want to be braver than I am. Come to think of it, I did go on to do some brave (for me) things in the years after I read it.

I'm grateful to google for making it possible to find the title and author's full name. I only remembered the subject of the book and that the author's name had Xin in it. After reading about Xinran's other books I think I'd like to read them, too.