Aftershock

by Zhang Ling, Shelly Bryant (Translator)

A catastrophic disaster in China triggers a mother’s heartbreaking choice and a daughter’s reconciliation with the past in a powerful novel by the author of A Single Swallow and Where Waters Meet.

In the summer of 1976, an earthquake swallows up the city of Tangshan, China. Among the hundreds of thousands of people scrambling for survival is a mother who makes an agonizing decision that irrevocably changes her life and the lives of her children. In that devastating split second, her seven-year-old daughter, Xiaodeng, is separated from her brother and the mother she loves and trusts. All Xiaodeng remembers of the fateful morning is betrayal.

Thirty years later, Xiaodeng is an acclaimed writer living in Canada with a caring husband and daughter. However, her newfound fame and success do little to cover the deep wounds that disrupt her life, time and again, and edge her toward a breaking point. Xiaodeng realizes the only path toward healing is to return to Tangshan, find her mother, and get closure.

Spanning three decades of the emotional and cultural aftershocks of disaster, Zhang Ling’s intimate epic explores the damage of guilt, the healing pull of family, and the hope of one woman who, after so many years, still longs to be saved.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, China, Asia, Literary Fiction, Asian Literature, Chinese Literature

220 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.

AKA as 张翎 and Ling Zhang

张翎 Zhang Ling is the award-winning author of nine novels and numerous collections of novellas and short stories. Born in China, she moved to Canada in 1986. In the mid-1990s, she began to write and publish fiction in Chinese while working as a clinical audiologist. Since then she has won the Chinese Media Literature Award for Author of the Year, the Grand Prize of Overseas Chinese Literary Award, and Taiwan’s Open Book Award. Among Zhang Ling’s work are Gold Mountain Blues and Aftershock, adapted into China’s first IMAX movie with unprecedented box-office success at the time. from Amazon.com

Reviews

[Willow Heath]

Written by celebrated Canada-based Chinese author Zhang Ling, Aftershock traces the life and experiences of a woman who survived the 1976 earthquake in Tangshan — an earthquake which took the lives of 242,000 people. Xiaodeng is now in her thirties; a successful author and mother living in Toronto with her husband. But her mental health is in tatters, and her doctor is helping her retrace the steps of her early life.

My full thoughts: https://booksandbao.com/chinese-novel...

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ great quick read (even though it took me so long to finish - had some personal stuff going on). Was planning on 4 ⭐️ throughout the whole book but I felt the ending was anticlimactic

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

An emotional story about a family ripped apart by the aftermath of a devastating earthquake.

Three things that sold this book for me were:
Dual Timelines & POVs
Based On True Events
Translated/Chinese to English

I would have liked to read more about Xiaodeng and her mother, Yuanni reuniting as it would have really elevated the story. Definitely a missed opportunity.

Overall I enjoyed Aftershock. It is a well written and gripping story.

My thanks to Over The River PR and Amazon Publishing for this gifted copy!

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. This book is definitely among my favorite translated works.

[Kera’s Always Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so emotionally gutted by this book, wow!

The synopsis of this book doesn’t even touch the true beauty and pain of this story. We follow a family of three, separated by a natural disaster more than thirty years ago.

Xiaodeng was separated from her brother Xiaoda and their mother Yuanni when a devastating earthquake shook Tangshan, China. Now, as an adult, Xiaodeng has no memories from before her seventh year. She is a successful writer with a family who loves her, but she is dealing with deep seated trauma from that fateful event, trauma that she cannot find to heal. Her memories keep pushing to the surface every so often, but they never break free, leaving her feeling lost and alone, even in her happy, content life.

Xiaodeng and Yuanni are both dealing with wounds from the disaster, but they keep going. Young Xiaodeng is all Yuanni has left, believing her daughter was lost to her in the quake. We follow all three through various stages of their lives, as we jump between person to person, timeline to timeline.

I adored each of these characters, fully committed to their story. This book is fraught with heartbreak and triumph, bringing tears to my eyes multiple times. The desperation and longing was palpable. This is told in a very blunt and direct way, but it takes nothing from the story. On the contrary, it only heightens the tension and the emotional intensity.

What a stunning read!

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can't lie, am a bit underwhelmed by this book - I expected a lot more, something a bit more hard-hitting, emotional, or even more introspective. Some good passages, the concept of the novel itself is great, but it flitted between too many characters and POVs, even sometimes within one POV we'd alternate between the characters in the scene together. I was invested primarily only in Xiaodeng's story, and the conclusion just kind of fell flat.

The novel is fine and certainly has an audience, but I wasn't overly impressed.

[Maddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Check my Instagram post about "Aftershock" here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C31NOlDrByT/

"Aftershock", by Zhang Ling (张翎), translated from Chinese by Shelly Bryant, and published by @AmazonPublishing is a heartbreaking tale of a family ripped apart by the Tangshan Earthquake of 1976.

The story follows mother Li Yuanni, and her twins, Xiaodeng and Xiaoda, before and after the Tangshan Earthquake of 1976. The timeline moves from past to present, and from one character to the other, which takes a little getting used to, but helps build a strong family saga with different perspectives in only a little over 200 pages. The story is very engaging and heartfelt, and even though I was familiar with the plot because I had watched the movie adaptation, I had a hard time putting the novel down.

This is a great novel for fans of family sagas. What begins with the cruelest decision a mother could be faced with in the aftermath of the Tangshan Earthquake, reverberates across decades and generations, across countries and continents, and across the hearts of many readers and film fans across the world.

The novel is the basis of China's first IMAX movie, "Aftershock" (唐山大地震), released in 2010, directed by Feng Xiaogang, and starring Xu Fan as Li Yuanni, and Zhang Jingchu as Deng. I love this movie and bawl my eyes out everytime I watch it. I would definitely recommend watching it after reading the novel.

This is the second novel I read written by Zhang Ling, after reading "Where Waters Meet" last year. At this point, I think I can confidently call myself a fan. I am definitely looking forward to reading her other novels available in English and hope more will become translated.

Thank you to Zhang Ling for bringing this story to life, and thank you to @otrpr and @AmazonPublishing for inviting me on this book tour and for my gifted ARC of "Aftershock." All opinions are my own. If you want to check out more opinions and giveaways for "Aftershock", check out the slides to see the other participants of the book tour.

[kev · Rating 5 out of 5]

a phenomenal book. captivated me beginning, middle, and end. zhang ling’s writing is transcendent; her ability to develop fully-formed characters that are imperfect, scarred, and tender is truly incredible. and maybe i just have a fondness for stories about parent-child relationships and the ramifications of generational trauma, but this novel was just so superb. loved!

[Kaity · Rating 4 out of 5]

although this was a good read- I’ve realized I have nothing too noteworthy to even write a review about. a 4 star read but not a must-read in my opinion.

[Enchanted Prose · Rating 5 out of 5]

What’s lost and what can be saved after severe psychological trauma (China, northeast/southeast cities, and Toronto, Canada; 1968 – 2006): “In 1976, the sky over China collapsed.” So begins the newest, English-translated, searing novel by acclaimed Chinese-Canadian author Zhang Ling. Poignantly asking, “What can you hold onto forever?”

In 2010, Ling’s Aftershock novella was adapted into a movie that skyrocketed her to literary fame. By then, she’d immigrated to Toronto and was working as a clinical audiologist treating patients who were victims of wars and disasters. Her Chinese and Canadian experiences gave her first-hand insight into trauma. The movie became the “highest-grossing domestic film in China’s history.”

Aftershock, turned-into-a-novel, is dedicated “To 1976, the most eventful year in my memory.” Psychologically focused on the aftermath of the worst 20th century “natural disaster in the entire record of earthquakes,” Ling writes, killing an estimated half-a-million people and leaving survivors “numb and heartless.”

The emotionality of Aftershock may be the closest a non-psychologist/psychiatrist reader gets to understanding the mental anguish of a deeply-rooted, complex psychological illness: post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD.

Penetrating storytelling centers on one family living in a “simple, residential” community in China’s northeastern, coastal city Tangshan, in the Hebei province. You’ll see how some survivors cope, dramatically contrasted by one whose heart and soul are so broken she becomes an emotional shell of her former self. Xiaodeng is that mentally, dispirited main female character who essentially died in that epic earthquake too.

Ling’s piercing prose and storytelling deeply moves us, displaying why she’s been awarded multiple, prestigious Chinese literature prizes. A mere two-and-a-half opening pages, following an even briefer Foreword about that fateful 1976 day, may be one of the most compelling literary hooks you’ve read.

The story of a family of four primarily revolves around the mother, Li Yuanni, and her two twin children: daughter Xiaodeng and son Xiaoda. Twin psychology is also at play. Their father, a former soldier, drives a truck on “long-haul” journeys. Long-haul well-describes the novel’s journey from Before and After the earth exploded onto them. Mother-and-son are the more resilient ones, yet still dealing with their survivor guilt; Xiaodeng is the one who cannot move forward because of her mother’s in-the-moment, life-or-death decision when she realizes she can only rescue one child. A fleeting, excruciating decision with monumental, life-altering consequences. Why she chose her son over her daughter will haunt you.

There’s so many BIG themes packed into this slim historical, soulful novel (208 pages). The soul that’s left is what happens after unbearable sacrifice and abandonment. The depiction of Li digging through the “rubble with her our own fingers after the earthquake” leaves a mother and son with emotional and/or physical scars, yet overpowered by the left-to-die daughter.

Xiaodeng’s mental suffering is witnessed over thirty years. How do survivors of extreme emotional trauma get on with their lives? How tormented are their psyches? How well do they sleep? Have nightmares? Paralyzing anxiety? Unrelenting headaches? What are their relationships – familial, marriage, children, occupational – like? At one point, optimistic Xiaoda says, “Good days are coming,” and you can’t help but wonder when, if ever, that outlook will apply to his long-lost sister, who could be dead as far as mother and son know.

In a recent interview, Ling discusses how important the “mother-daughter relationship is,” which she’s explored in other novels. Aftershock delves into three mother-daughter relationships: Li’s and Xiaodeng’s; Xiaodeng with her adoptive mother (her adoptive father also influences feelings of betrayal); and when Xiaodeng marries and has a daughter of her own. An exceedingly strict, overprotective mother.

“Xiaodeng,” her husband Yang Yang says, in tears. “I can’t get inside your heart. I’ve been trying to for eighteen years, but it’s no use. You’re wrapped up too tightly.”

“What if I told you my heart was wrapped too tightly even for me to get in, would you feel better?” Xiaodeng replies.

Yang Yang’s tears replace Xiaodeng’s who hasn’t cried since the earthquake. “Her eyes like ice caves.” Tears, a treatment goal. Her mother Li’s tears are of “only despair.”

Ling helps us understand why Xiaodeng is helpless at modifying her behavior for the sake of her daughter’s and husband’s happiness. Even love and tenderness cannot fix this family’s oppressive tension. “How could she give what she didn’t have?”

We don’t meet Xiaodeng in the Before. Instead, when she’s thirty-seven, when the damage has become ingrained, arriving by ambulance at a real Toronto hospital, whispering into the ear of a psychiatrist, “Save Me,” having tried to commit suicide. Can she be saved?

To fully absorb Ling’s heartrending words, Chinese history (ancient and revolutionary swiftly blended in), culture, and intentions calls for pacing yourself, despite riveting you. Otherwise, you may need to pause to get your bearings, as I discovered. Owing to the novel’s creative structure told in one fell swoop: one long chapter broken up by subparts or scenes that do not move chronologically over the decades and vary from place to place in China and Toronto. If you don’t pay attention to the dates you might get confused as Xiaodeng’s name changes from Chinese to North American and the storylines are multi-leveled depending on the time period. Time and place melt, creating the sense there’s no exit, no reprieve. The foreverness of mental illness, especially when you suffer inside and don’t let others know how badly you’re hurting should jolt even those who stigmatize mental disorders rather than appreciate how the mind influences people’s behaviors.

Like A Single Swallow, one of Ling’s earlier novels, Aftershock was also translated by Shelly Bryant. Released in 2020, its forceful prose conveys the same science and art of translation found in Aftershock that’s sure to remain vivid long after you finish it.

Earthquake survivors today are nearing their forties, Ling points out. How many others are quietly suffering to the degree Xiaodeng has? To Ling’s credit, she brings their debilitating psychological duress out in the open.

Atmospherically, the “force of the wind” blasts throughout, adding to the “crisp pain”and fantasy of being swept away escaping the pain.

It’s impossible not to reflect on how much of Zhang Ling’s personal experiences are blended into the novel. Like Xiaodeng, she came to Toronto, staying in China ten years after the earthquake. After the Cultural Revolution she depicts, launched and ended by Mao Zedong, the Communist founder of the People’s Republic of China, who also, strikingly, died in 1976. Another similarity we learn on page one is that Xiaodeng, like the author, is a famous writer. When she’s wheeled into the hospital, the staff know she’s just been honored with a Canadian literary award. The dichotomy between triumph and devastation is enlightening, like when we get shocked that a celebrity has taken his/her own life. Outward success conceals inner demons.

Freedom is another BIG theme. Freedom from mental agony, tyranny, and feeling free to express oneself. In another interview, Ling discusses what it was like to grow up during the Cultural Revolution, “when a wrong opinion could lead to unimaginable consequences.” Her literary recognition happened after she left China.

Healing Fiction is both a literary subgenre and the name of a groundbreaking book by American psychologist, James Hillman. His therapeutic work was referred to in a fascinating article about Aftershock, the movie.

If Xiaodeng can make “space for feelings” as her dedicated psychiatrist says, then the novel is a triumph, too, offering hope and healing through artful fiction.

[Elaine and Tess the Springer. I won’t be on GR for a bit. · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent read.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. A deeply emotional story that makes it a compelling read. I felt that I needed to really concentrate on every word for fear of missing something that has or had happened. It goes back and forward in time and between the characters. We follow Li Yuanna and her children Xiaodeng and Xiaoda on the journey of their lives through the ups and downs and everyone that they come across. A very interesting and moving book that I highly recommend.

[M. K. French · Rating 5 out of 5]

An earthquake destroyed Tangshan, China in the summer of 1976. Among the survivors is a mother and her children, and the mother makes a choice that leaves seven-year-old Xiaodeng alone. She remembers the betrayal, and thirty years later is living in Canada as an acclaimed writer. Though she has a husband and daughter, she can't let go of the past and must get closure by returning to Tangshan.

Zhang Ling has written several beautiful novels, so I was eager to read this one as well. I'm familiar with the cadence of East Asian languages and figures of speech, though it might take a bit for a more casual reader to get used to it. We have multiple time periods within this tale, where we see Xiaodeng at various points in her life, as well as that of her mother and twin brother. The twins were both pinned beneath concrete because of the earthquake and saving one meant that it risked the other's death. Xiaodeng's brother Xiaoda was chosen, given he was the boy and the only one seen as being able to carry on the family name and tradition. This meant that Xiaodeng was assumed to be dead, leaving her twin and mother living in grief afterward. Xiaodeng survived and crawled through the wreckage on her own, and the opportunities given to her afterward were tempered and tainted. None of them came out unscathed from the earthquake, the aftereffects sharply changing the trajectory of their lives.

Grief and trauma dogged Xiaodeng's every moment. It's clear to us as the reader because we know more about her history than her adoptive parents did, and we see how heavy the guilt was for her brother and mother. Though Xiaodeng left China, she was still caught in the same pattern of negativity that had been with her since the fateful day of the earthquake: families will abandon you, no one will tell the truth, and there is no one to rely on other than herself. It's a sad and common outlook, one that prevented her from bonding with her daughter or husband on any but a superficial level. Xiaoda felt unable to meet the expectations on him, floundering for a long time. Their mother, already with a trauma history before the earthquake, was weighed down as well. It's not until the very end that everything comes together.

This entire novel is a methodical look at the effects of grief on the lives of those affected by disaster. Though life went on, certain aspects of their lives remained frozen in place. "Over time, she had become attached to the wounds. Saying goodbye to those wounds was painful too." It's gorgeously written, with a hint of hope at the end.

[Susan Ballard (subakkabookstuff) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a beautiful story. Yet, it is full of pain, trauma, and longings as a devastating earthquake in China rips a family apart.

At just over 200 pages, this book packs some big themes. In 1976, when a catastrophic earthquake hit Tangshan, China, a mother had to make a horrible decision - which twin to try to save from the rubble. It will change the course of all their lives.

Little Xiaodeng is found alone, left to die, remembering nothing from before the earthquake. Jump forward thirty years, and she has moved to Canada. She is a writer, married with a daughter, but she suffers from debilitating headaches, she has paralyzing anxiety, and nightmares, all from trauma she doesn’t quite understand.

Not only do we witness Xiaodeng’s mental and physical suffering, but there is also the idea of the twin connectedness, and why Xiaodeng’s mother chose her brother will unsettle you as she is plagued with guilt. Eventually, Xiaodeng travels back to China, hoping to find her mother and a chance for healing.

The author creates a descriptive atmosphere with the landscape, culture, and even political happenings. But I was most impressed by how the emotions are authentic and raw.

—------

Zhang Ling has won numerous literary awards, plus 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐤 was adapted into China’s first IMAX movie.

Thank you @otrpr and @AmazonPublishing

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

A terrible earthquake shattered the city of Tangshan during the Cultural Revolution. Families were split, brother and sister were separated Xiaoda and Xiaodeng. Xiaoda has an arm amputated but he gets on extremely well, running a large business, and a bit of a pain personally. Xiaodeng goes to Toronto and becomes a writer but she has huge medical problems resulting from the earthquake. A promising start but I rapidly lost interest and didn’t even finish the final third. The writing was irritating, with forced and unconvincing similes and metaphors, events bumping into each other: an amateur writer I thought. But no, she has written several novels that have been acclaimed. This was translated from Chinese by experienced translator Shelly Bryant. I looked back at her other 2 star novel (my judgement) ‘Where waters meet’. I finished that review with “She dwells on very terrible events in over the top language in which she seems not 100% fluent, and in unnecessary detail, which leads to a lot of skipping. It needs tightening and editing.” I’ll repeat that here. She has many excellent reviews, but she doesn’t work for me: I must add that I like many Chinese authors but sorry not this one.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

|| AFTERSHOCK || #gifted @otrpr
✍🏻
Started the year off strong with a #womenintranslation ARC. An emotional gut punch! This story follows Xiaodeng and her journey for reconciliation. In 1976 a catastrophic earthquake swallows up the city of Tangshan, China. People scramble for survival. A mothers agonizing decision will leave her young daughters life irrevocably changed. Decades later that daughter with a family and career of her own, living in Canada, struggles to hold it all together with the deep wounds she carries.

I loved Where Waters Meet so I was excited to read more of Zhang Ling's work. She did a beautiful job exploring hope and guilt and the healing power of family and reconnection of cultural roots. Though this is told in a non-linear style, in Zhang Ling's masterful storytelling hands everything connected wonderfully. Loved this one! Highly reccomend if you are looking for more translated works and family/womens fiction. Available Feb 6th.
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For more of my book content check out instagram.com/bookalong

[y. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aftershock: a review

A catastrophic earthquake destroys Tangshan, China in the summer of 1976. Among the hundreds of thousands of survivors is a mother who needs to make a heartbreaking decision: she can only choose to save one of her two beloved children or she risks losing both of them.

A happy family of four is therefore torn apart, and the remaining has to live with lifelong repercussions. This family saga spans over three decades, in a back-and-forth structure where we follow multiple characters, each grappling with their internal struggles and external challenges. As the narrative unfolds, we witness the profound impact of the earthquake on each member of the family, as well as the complex dynamics that shape their relationships over time. Exploring the aftershocks beyond the initial earthquake, both physical and emotional, in time and space, the author, Zhang Ling, poignantly delves into themes of trauma, guilt, and reconciliation within just around 200 pages.

Overall, reading Aftershock felt like a rollercoaster of emotions, from heartbreak to desperation & longing. Multiple passages brought tears to my eyes. If you enjoy stories that delve into intricate family dynamics and explore the resilience of the human spirit amidst adversity, then this one’s for you!

Thank you @otrpr and @AmazonPublishing for this gifted copy!

[Ellice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aftershock is a book that’s been on my radar for a while, a generational story about the aftermath of an earthquake that tears a family apart.
I do love the kind of stories that follow a family over a large amount of time (think Pachinko) and I love how Aftershock followed the perspective of many members of the family over different time periods. My only gripe with this is that the time line jumps around, and for me personally I like to read a linear timeline.
It’s definitely a hard hitting book, and there are so trigger warnings to look out for if you’re sensitive to certain subjects, but I would go as far as to say that the novel wasn’t as emotional as I expect it to be. I was wanting my heart to be broken, but that didn’t happen. The subject matter is obviously very upsetting, and the emotional impact on all the characters is strong, it just didn’t seem (to me) to translate through to the reader. All in all, 3.5/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 rounded up as I’m feeling generous

[WeLoveBigBooksAndWeCannotLie]

Have you ever been in a natural disaster?⚡️
Alyssa and I were in Haiti during a tropical storm, and while it was scary, it was heartbreaking to witness the destruction it caused.
Aftershock by Zhang Ling and translated by Shelly Bryant is set in the summer of 1976 when an earthquake hits Tangshan, China. The title is perfection because this follows the effects of a young girl Xiaodeng, separated from her family, who think she perished in earthquake.
This is an emotional story full of trauma, at times hard to read, but the story is so compelling, and the characters have so much depth, I couldn’t put it down. Sometimes you feel sad for the characters and other times you hate them, but it all really felt like this could be real people.
Thank you @otrpr for this gifted copy!
Aftershock published yesterday and is available on our Amazon storefront!🧜🏼‍♀️🌺

[Tim Pieraccini · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5, really, but I don't want to oversell it with a four-star rating, as although it's definitely good, the constant jumping around in time was rather disorientating for me. It may be entirely my fault; when I finished it I went back to the beginning and I had completely forgotten how it started. Completely. An opening I read yesterday morning.
For a much more positive view, see Willow Talks Books on YouTube: '10 Best Books in Translation of 2024' - this was what persuaded me to pick it up, and I don't regret it, but I didn't get nearly as much out of it as Willow did!

[Jill Dobbe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aftershock was an emotional and heart-wrenching read. Although fiction, the earthquake of 1976 in Tangshan, China figured prominently and was the setting for the book and the characters. A family was torn apart and the members lived with life-long repercussions, especially, Xaiodeng, the daughter.

A beautiful story that tugs at the heartstrings of readers. The author's transitions between the periods were seamless and her creative writing engaging.

[Xuan Ooi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book cracked my heart right open. Illuminates the struggle of grief, moving forward despite it all, and learning what it is like to let go when everything slips through your hands. The characters are dynamic and so incredibly real. The jumping through time reflects intertwining memories and the gaps of missing parts of the story. Zhang Ling is a fantastic writer and Shelly Bryant is a gifted and faithful translator. A superb read I finished quickly.

[Gloriana Wong · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the author that wrote Where Waters Meet…
It work me awhile to get into Aftershock but once I did the book moved fast. It is written over a span of 30 years. From the childhood of Xiaodeng in China, the unimaginable event that destroyed both herself and her family. The guilt and loss she has that makes her travel abroad to Canada. She is constantly at a loss of not knowing what happened to her family. And to finally close this window of her past she makes a trip back to China to find her lost family-and a great surprise unfurls. Highly recommend this book!

[Belle · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best family sagas I've ever read. Zhang writes poignantly about trauma, guilt, and reconciliation. I was impressed by how deftly Zhang managed to portray a rotating cast of characters—no one was beyond compassion or accountability. I also particularly enjoyed the novel's use of non-linear structure. Aftershock is probably one of the hardest reads of 2024, but it's well worth it.

[LoriG · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good read. It’s translated from Chinese and I didn’t know what to expect, but it reads like a light fiction book from a Chinese perspective. It reflects on trauma and its effects on life, relationships, sense of self. Familiar themes with a culturally different lens from my own which I appreciate. Worth a read.

[_v.bel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hits close to home, heartfelt and beautifully written

5/5 read
5/5 audio

1970s China earthquake--Xiaodeng and Xiaodengs early memories slowly are crushed with their mothers decision of who to save; now nearly 30yrs later Xiaodeng is still alive and trying to discover herself, her marriage and her overall "window" in life finding her past was eye tearing satisfying

[F A Tristram · Rating 4 out of 5]

A moving and complex story.

I loved the raw emotion throughout this story. It was difficult at first to keep on track with the flitting back and forth through timelines. As the story evolved this became easier.
This is a book I would read again for a deeper understanding.

[Mary Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a moving story. You can feel the weight of the earthquake disaster and impossible choices as they pull at the characters' hearts through the years. Xiaodeng and her family are depicted with the brokenness that comes after such a tragedy. Beautifully done.

[Christine Timmo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was good. I felt that none of the characters were especially likable, but I still was invested. There was certainly a missed opportunity for a lot of emotional impact at the end, for the reunion. Overall a good book but the ending was underwhelming.

[Bethan Evans · Rating 2 out of 5]

I dunno I just thought this book was so boring? Didn’t connect with any of the characters, thought the writing was clunky (although could be the translation) and also didn’t really see the point of the plot?? Just rly not for me sorry Kindle unlimited suggestions for Bethan

[Wu-Chu Huang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really liked it.