Lesley S. reviewed on 12/19/2008 + 50 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 3

An interesting imagining of the human side of Madame Mao, infamous power-mad wife of Mao Tse-Tung and leader of China's notorious Gang of Four which was responsible for some of worst turmoil of Cultural Revolution. Switching back and forth between paragraphs, the narrative alternates between two points of view: the third-person and her first-person "autobiographical" memoir, documenting her flaws, strengths, vanities, paranoia, weaknesses, and yearnings which colored her journey from humble origins, to frustrated wannabe actress, to Chairman Mao's scheming, manipulative, long-suffering wife. It's essentially a different take on the quintessential tale of the typical 20th century Western housewife who sacrifices her own dreams, ambitions, and life in order for her husband to succeed - only to be discarded later for a younger, sexier model - however, in this case, was then able to manipulate her way to power and exact revenge on an unimaginable scale.

Which is why I was surprised that more often than not, it felt like sitting through a somewhat dry, pedantic seminar on modern Chinese history.

Overall, though, a worthwhile read.

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