Daughter of the River: An Autobiography

An autobiography of a life that I simply have no comprehension of. Born in China during the 60s famine, this tells of a girl's coming of age, how she finds her place in her family, and finds herself. But it's set against a background of dire poverty and family secrets. She doesn't fit and wants to get out - education being her passport, but she is begrudged that freedom by her mother. It's almost unbearably hard, but is not without hope.

I had a hard time connecting with the author and the choices she made,or the things she were feeling.She writes in a way that somewhat distanced me as a reader from the story. And not only me but I feel she was apart from the other persons in the book,almost numb.I know her living conditions were pretty harsh so she might have been densesitized,judging by the way she describes the squalor of where she lived and sicknesses and violence.

The whole book is like under a cloud of painful memories and depressing recollections.

It was also hard to follow at times since the narration jumps from the past the present and back again.

Hong Ying wordt geboren in het moderne China, in een arbeidersfamilie die moeite moet doen om het hoofd boven water te houden. Ontroerend verhaal over de onderkant van de maatschappij in het hedendaagse China.