CNN news anchor Carol Lin was the first news anchor who broke the news on television that a plane had flown into the World Trade Center in New York City on 9/11, 2001. In this powerful memoir, she writes about her Chinese parents, her dad who sadly passed away, the relationship with her mother, how she became a news presenter first on local television and later on for CNN, and how she met her husband, Will.
For CNN, she travelled all over the world; she reported for CNN in Pakistan close to the border with Afghanistan in often dangerous situations and in Kosovo in the former Yugoslavia.
In her personal life, shortly after 9/11, her life changes in both good and bad ways. Her husband admits that he had a one-night stand with another woman, and later on, just shortly after their daughter is born, Will is diagnosed with a rare and untreatable form of cancer. After his passing, she tries to pick up life again and to raise her daughter alone and questions how her career fits into her new life after everything in it fell apart.
When News Breaks is a moving and very powerful and beautiful memoir. I immediately was drawn to this book because I remember Carol from watching CNN. Just as she was a fantastic news anchor then, Carol is also a fantastic and brilliant writer. She describes her upbringing by Chinese parents. Her mother didn't immediately like her husband, Will, and the sad passing of her beloved father.
She describes what it is like to be a female news anchor in a mostly white male-dominated and very competitive workplace, which is also doubly difficult because she is Asian-American, and many people confuse her for Connie Chung. She describes how she worked her way up from local news channels to become a news anchor at CNN, where she was the first to break the news of 9/11, just when she was about to interview author Amy Tan. I really liked how this book was written; Carol writes in a very direct and clear way, it was easy to follow although there are quite some serious things happening. It was especially heartbreaking for her to lose her husband and to pick up the pieces of her life after everything fell apart. That part was truly moving, because we all know someone affected by cancer or loss. I also really liked how the book ended, as Carol had to make some tough choices on her career.
Overall this is a memoir not to miss; I loved reading it, and I highly recommend it.
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