The Bumpy Road: A Memoir of a Journey from Shanghai

by Abby L. Jiang

In 1966 Shanghai, a 12-year-old girl who was a “princess” from an affluent family saw her life suddenly changed forever by the turbulent revolutions. On one summer night, her family got raided. Her father became a “bloodsucker” overnight and she forever lost her happy childhood and tried to survive.
This memoir honestly draws a raw but real life picture of a girl in Shanghai from 1954-1987 when China was closed to the rest of the world. The book vividly shows the traditional society before the great Reform in China in the 1980s, as well as the life of different classes of the common people who all struggled through the confusion of the Chinese Cultural Revolution and the strange years following.
The second part of the book is about the author’s experiences in the U.S. Why did she decide to stay? How did she handle her huge East vs West immigration shocks? How she raised a Princeton graduated child in a totally unfamiliar territory?
These true life experiences have seldom been retold by an actual survivor. Hope you will enjoy the compelling stories and find this important period of Chinese history insightful.

238 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 23, 2024

Reviews

[Frank Hickey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This amazing book tells the firsthand story of a young

woman growing up in the chaos of China's Cultural

Revolution.

Through her eyes, we travel with her through the night-time

raids by the secret police and the tragedies of those who

tried to live their lives in freedom.

For long periods, I traveled throughout China, speaking

the language and hearing the stories. But this book educated

me to the reality of those days.

I would recommend this to anyone who wants to read

an uplifting and humane story of success against

overwhelming odds to achieve the American dream.


***Frank Hickey, Los Angeles Police Department, retired.

[Gaylord Olson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good book to understand the extremes in how governments treat their citizens. Some extremely bad at times but capable of getting better. The book is very easy to read and understand how someone can endure the worst extremes and with luck and work get to a happy ending.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author tells the story of her experiences in Shanghai in a detailed way during cultural revolution. A rarely found book in English offering a window of personal perspective on the turbulent period of Chinese recent history. A good reference for readers who are interested in learning the subject through a different angle.

[Milly Liu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very poignant and moving memoir of an existential historical turning point for China. An important book for anyone interested in understanding modern China