The story of Daughters of Shandong is set in 1948, when the Communist revolution takes place in China. The wealthy landowning Ang family lives in rural Zhucheng, Shandong with four girls, The family lives in the house where also the strict and not very nice grandmother Nai Nai rules the household, and who is not happy with four girls instead of a son who will take care of the family later on. Eldest daughter Hai, thirtheen years old, is the oldest of the four girls, Di is her headstrong younger sister, Three is the third daughter of the family who sadly passes away, and Lan is the youngest. Things take a bad turn for the four girls and their mother when the communist army reaches Shandong, and the father of the family, grandmother and other wealthy family that lives in the house, flee , and leave behind the four daughters and their mother, because they are seen as useless mouths to feed,but they have to guard the house for them. And then the land seizing communist cadres come to the house, take over the house, and without their father being there, or a son, the oldest daughter is punished for the family being landowners, and Hai is taken away and has to stand trial for the crime of being from a landowner family. She is beaten up badly and the punishment is physically and mentally brutal, which she barely survives. When she is released, the three daughters and their mother flee, as they are no longer safe in Shandong without family. Without any money for food, they flee to Qingdao, later British Hong Kong where they land as refugees later to Taiwan, where their father, who abandoned them, seems to be.
All together they flee a thousand miles, a difficult and dangerous journey during a tumultous revolution in China, and it is vividly describes what the four girls and their mother experience along the road and how they survive the hardships, and what happens later in life. It's a very impressive story of four very strong women, and the strong bond between them.
Daughters of Shandong is an impressive and beautifully written story based loosely on the life of the maternal grandmother of the author. The story takes place in a time when it was normal to '' value men, belittle women'', a Confucian tradition. The mother of the daughters is treated as a servant who has to kneel for the grandmother, whose behavior is nothing more then abusive, until later in Taiwan, she becomes the mother of a son. Mother Yue is kind and does everything to protect her daughters and to provide food for them. Hai is a very strong main character, you read everything from her point of view.
Di is a bit rebellious daughter, and Lan sadly had to face many health issues because of malnutrition and lack of food. I knew a little about the specific time period in China that the book is set in, but I learned more about it because of this book, and I truly applaud the author for creating this beautiful debut book, and I also learned more about specific Chinese traditions. But most of all the story is about four very strong Chinese women, who survive in a very difficult and dangerous time period in China and have to face homelessness and poverty. But later on, Hai's daughter is admitted at the best university in Taiwan, and their dream for a better life comes true. I absolutely love this book, and I truly recommend it!!
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