Book description
For eight groundbreaking years, Xinran presented a radio programme in
China during which she invited women to call in and talk about
themselves. Broadcast every evening, Words on the Night Breeze became
famous through the country for its unflinching portrayal of what it
meant to be a woman in modern China. Centuries of obedience to their
fathers, husbands and sons, followed by years of political turmoil had
made women terrified of talking openly about their feelings. Xinran
won their trust and, through her compassion and ability to listen,
became the first woman to hear their true stories.
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. Through the vivid intimacy of her
writing, the women's voices confide in the reader, sharing their
deepest secrets for the first time. Their stories changed Xinran's
understanding of China forever. Her book will reveal the lives of
Chinese women to the West as never before.
Born in Beijing in 1958, Xinran was a journalist and radio presenter
in China. In 1997 she moved to London, where she wrote her bestselling
book
The Good Women of China
. Since then she has written a regular column for the
Guardian
, appeared frequently on radio and TV and published
Sky Burial, What
the Chinese Don't Eat,
a novel (
Miss Chopsticks)
, and a groundbreaking work of oral history,
China Witness
. Her charity, The Mothers' Bridge of Love, was founded to help
disadvantaged Chinese children and to build a bridge of understanding
between the West and China.
