Monday, April 19, 2010

A Woman Soldier's Own Story The Autobiography of Xie Bingying

Pages:  336
Source:  Library

At the age of twenty Xie joined a group of classmates on a trip to Central China.  She had taken and passed a test that allowed her to join a military group headed for training.  Hyer family and school were unaware of this decision.  This along with many other decisions she made from an early age branded her a rebel.  These same decisions would cause her trouble throughout her life until she came to America and raised a family here.  This was not a quick read.  However, I will say her guts and gumption kept me reading.  I knew that living in a society that treated women pretty much as property was tough.  When Xie's mother bound her feet so she would have tiny feet, and because it was the custom and others were talking about how big her feet were, she took it upon herself to unbind them.  This is not a pleasant thing to do.  When forced to marry someone she had been promised to as a child, she forced her husband to divorce her before consumating the marriage.  This book was not only her story, but the story of women in China during that time.  Her strength of character and belief in her dreams made her someone to admire.  This was a wonderful book.  It is not something I would have read if it had not been for needing to read it for the "ABC Author Challenge".  I'm glad I found it and can recommend it.

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