Her book will reveal the lives of Chinese women to the West as never before. Their stories changed Xinran’s understanding of China forever. But they also talk about love-about how, despite cruelty, despite politics, the urge to nurture and cherish remains. Whether they are the privileged wives of party leaders or peasants in a forgotten corner of the countryside, they tell of almost inconceivable suffering: forced marriages, sexual abuse, separation of parents from their children, extreme poverty. Through the vivid intimacy of her writing, these women confide in the listener, sharing their deepest secrets. This unforgettable book is the story of how Xinran negotiated the minefield of restrictions imposed on Chinese journalists to reach out to women across the country. Xinran won their trust and, through her compassion and ability to listen, became the first woman to hear their true stories. Centuries of obedience to their fathers, husbands, and sons, followed by years of fear under communism, had made women terrified of talking openly about their feelings. Broadcast every evening, Words on the Night Breeze became famous throughout the country for its unflinching portrayal of what it meant to be a woman in modern China. An unprecedented, intimate account of the lives of modern Chinese women, told by the women themselves-true stories of the political and personal upheavals they have endured in their chaotic and repressive societyįor eight groundbreaking years, Xinran hosted a radio program in China during which she invited women to call in and talk about themselves.

The good women of china hidden voices