Life and Death in Shanghai - Nien Cheng

Nien Cheng was wealthy, educated, fluent in English and working for Shell, a Western company, when the Communist Cultural Revolution hit. She had continued to work for Shell after the death of her husband and held a respected position. In 1966 the Red Guards attacked her home, looted her belongings and took her prisoner. The book is an autobiographic account of her experiences during this shameful episode in Chinese history. She gives heartbreaking accounts of having to attend her own husband's denunciation and meetings during which people were forced to create big character posters praising the party and denouncing "capitalist roaders". It shows ...  Read the complete review

Over the years I have read many autobiographies written by Chinese women about their lives prior to, during and since communism and the Cultural Revolution. For the most part they have been interesting, moving and informative with the odd exception. Having felt I had overdosed on the genre I left them alone for a while until I spotted this book languishing on my step-dad's bookshelf. He couldn't remember if it was any good or not, so I thought I'd find out for myself. Nien was relatively fortunate in her early years having studied and lived abroad. Her late husband had been a senior director for Shell in their Shanghai office and initially the communist ...  Read the complete review