Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China

by Jung Chang Narrated by Catherine Ho

Overview

They were the most famous sisters in China. As the country battled through a hundred years of wars, revolutions and seismic transformations, the three Soong sisters from Shanghai were at the center of power, and each of them left an indelible mark on history.

Red Sister, Ching-ling, married the 'Father of China', Sun Yat-sen, and rose to be Mao's vice-chair.
Little Sister, May-ling, became Madame Chiang Kai-shek, first lady of pre-Communist Nationalist China and a major political figure in her own right.
Big Sister, Ei-ling, became Chiang's unofficial main adviser - and made herself one of China's richest women.

All three sisters enjoyed tremendous privilege and glory, but also endured constant mortal danger. They showed great courage and experienced passionate love, as well as despair and heartbreak. They remained close emotionally, even when they embraced opposing political camps and Ching-ling dedicated herself to destroying her two sisters' worlds.

Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister is a gripping story of love, war, intrigue, bravery, glamour and betrayal, which takes us on a sweeping journey from Canton to Hawaii to New York, from exiles' quarters in Japan and Berlin to secret meeting rooms in Moscow, and from the compounds of the Communist elite in Beijing to the corridors of power in democratic Taiwan. In a group biography that is by turns intimate and epic, Jung Chang reveals the lives of three extraordinary women who helped shape twentieth-century China.

Editorial Reviews

MARCH 2020 - AudioFile

Narrator Catherine Ho impressively conveys this memoir about the Soong sisters, who strongly influenced government officials, and, thus, early-twentieth-century Chinese history. Listeners will appreciate Ho’s portrayals of the women, which are as distinct as each personality. The powerful voice of Big Sister, Ei-ling, reflects her wealth and influence; Little Sister, Mei-ling, is intransigent, becoming Madame Chiang Kai-Shek, in spite of her mother’s opposition; Red Sister, Ching-ling, marries Sun Yat-sen and publicly berates her anti-Communist family. Most memorable is their father, Charlie, a Methodist minister whose strongly stated views influence each of his daughters. The comments of luminaries like Harry Truman and Edgar Snow, along with the many quoted letters, increase interest. Ho’s authentic accents, sly insider remarks, and asides add immeasurably to this exceptional true story. S.G.B. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

Publishers Weekly

09/16/2019

Chang (Wild Swans) seamlessly chronicles the lives and marriages of the Soong sisters in this captivating triple biography. Born to a prominent Shanghai family in the final years of the 19th century, the sisters rose to national prominence in 1915, when Ching-ling (“Red Sister”) married Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the Republic of China. Meanwhile, Ei-ling (“Big Sister”) went into business with her husband, future finance minister H.H. Kung, starting on a path that would make her one of China’s richest women. But it was May-ling (“Little Sister”) who made the most auspicious match by marrying Nationalist leader Chiang Kei-shek in 1927. According to Chang, May-ling, among other heroic deeds, helped to peacefully resolve the 1936 Xian Incident, when Chiang was detained by two of his generals, thereby saving her husband’s life and preventing a full-fledged civil war from breaking out on the eve of WWII. Political tensions would eventually tear the sisters apart, however, as Ching-ling broke with her family to become vice chairman of Communist China under Mao Zedong. Chang’s artful descriptions track the sisters as they amass riches and influence, outwit opponents, and help to mold modern China and Taiwan. This juicy tale will satisfy readers interested in politics, world affairs, and family dynamics. (Nov.)

From the Publisher

Deeply researched, Chang’s book is a riveting read”—The New York Times Book Review
 
“Chang adds another title to her series of lively depictions of key figures in Modern Chinese history . . . This accessible book will appeal to history buffs and biography fans in addition to those already familiar with the Chang’s body of work.”—Library Journal
 
“The book intertwines the intimate with the big historical picture, tying their personal stories to the deep and irreconcilable political divisions among them . . . it is stamped by her revisionist impulse.”—The Atlantic
 
“A highly readable and accessible introduction to three important women who deserve wider recognition.”—Booklist

“Chang seamlessly chronicles the lives and marriages of the Soong sisters in this captivating triple biography. . . . This juicy tale will satisfy readers interested in politics, world affairs, and family dynamics.” —Publishers Weekly

"One of this autumn's biggest reads, it's an astounding story told with verve and insight"—Stylist

“The complicated history of China during this period is little-known to most Westerners, so this readable book helps fill a gap. By hooking it onto personalities, Jung Chang has been able to chart a comprehensible way through these decades and an immense mass of information that could otherwise be difficult to digest.”—Washington Times

“Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister is a monumental work . . . Its three fairy-tale heroines, poised between east and west, spanned three centuries, two continents and a revolution, with consequences that reverberate, perhaps now more than ever, in all our lives to this day.”—The Spectator
 
“The book’s strongest point is its nuanced sympathy for the sisters . . . The lives of the three Song sisters—the subjects of Jung Chang’s spirited new book—are more than worthy of an operatic plot.”—The Guardian
 
“[Chang] paints China’s intense and complex history in bold strokes . . . It is a rollicking ride.”—Literary Review
 
“Absorbing . . . In this lucid, wise, forgiving biography Chang gives a new twist to an old line. Behind every great man . . . is a Soong sister.”—The Times (UK)

“Utterly engrossing…it stars a trio of extraordinary women, each of whom enjoyed tremendous privilege and fame, but also endured contact attached and mortal danger as well as heartbreak and despair. Their gripping collecting story reads like Wild Swans meets the Mitfords; and the history feels remarkably close to our own times too."—The Bookseller
 
“[Chang’s] book is well worth reading, in particular for the way it shows how powerful women have helped to shape modern China. At a time when, 70 years after Mao’s victory, the country’s political leadership contains almost no prominent women at all, that is a particularly apposite message to hear.”—The Sunday Times

“In the hands of master storyteller and contrarian Jung Chang, the old tale finds a new interpretation by one who knows well the intricacies of family, influence, gender, and power in modern China . . . A provocative view of the historical times that produced these extraordinary sisters"—Air Mail

“Her breathtaking new triple biography restores these “tiger-willed” women to their extraordinarily complex humanity . . . A gripping and emotional personal story.”—The Telegraph

MARCH 2020 - AudioFile

Narrator Catherine Ho impressively conveys this memoir about the Soong sisters, who strongly influenced government officials, and, thus, early-twentieth-century Chinese history. Listeners will appreciate Ho’s portrayals of the women, which are as distinct as each personality. The powerful voice of Big Sister, Ei-ling, reflects her wealth and influence; Little Sister, Mei-ling, is intransigent, becoming Madame Chiang Kai-Shek, in spite of her mother’s opposition; Red Sister, Ching-ling, marries Sun Yat-sen and publicly berates her anti-Communist family. Most memorable is their father, Charlie, a Methodist minister whose strongly stated views influence each of his daughters. The comments of luminaries like Harry Truman and Edgar Snow, along with the many quoted letters, increase interest. Ho’s authentic accents, sly insider remarks, and asides add immeasurably to this exceptional true story. S.G.B. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2019-08-26
Chang (Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China, 2013, etc.) follows three renowned sisters across more than a century.

The story of the Soong sisters, writes the author, is a kind of modern fairy tale. The Christian Shanghainese family into which they were born was prosperous but not especially influential, and the girls themselves "were not great beauties by traditional standards." Yet, self-confident and determined, each made her mark. Ei-ling, the oldest, born in 1889, became one of the richest women in the country; Ching-ling, born in 1893, married Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the republican movement in China, whose renown endures throughout the Chinese-speaking world; and May-ling, born in 1898, married Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the Nationalist government of China. According to the fairy tale, one sister loved money, another power, and the third her country—though, depending on one's politics, the third attribute could belong to any of them. Chang recounts the lives of the sisters and their deeds, as when May-ling, in the face of an impending Communist invasion, flew from the mainland to Taiwan, "a huge boost for the Nationalists' morale"; after Chiang died in 1975, she lived in seclusion in New York, her life spanning across three centuries. Ching-ling embraced the Communist cause, though it was only on her deathbed that she joined the party, acclaimed as "Honorary President of the People's Republic of China." Of the three, Ei-ling's life is the least compelling, though she had her accomplishments, as well. Chang's story is worth attention on the strength of the three sisters' notable doings, though her writing is often flat—"Above all, she had found fulfillment as a mother"; "The Generalissimo came to appreciate what his wife did"; "A whole new world opened up to Little Sister."

Of middling quality, but a story full of twists that follow the course of modern Chinese history.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169240979
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	10/29/2019
Edition description:	Unabridged

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