As a child in Beijing in the 1970s, Lai lives with her family in a lively, working-class neighborhood near the heart of the city. Thoughtful yet unassuming, she spends her days with her friends beyond the attention of her parents: Her father is a reclusive figure who lingers in the background, while her mother, an aging beauty and fervent patriot, is quick-tempered and preoccupied with neighborhood gossip. Only Lai’s grandmother, a formidable and colorful maverick, seems to really see Lai and believe that she can blossom beyond their circumstances.But Lai is quickly awakened to the harsh realities of the Chinese state. A childish prank results in a terrifying altercation with police that haunts her for years; she also learns that her father, like many others, was broken during the Cultural Revolution. As she enters adolescence, Lai meets a mysterious and wise bookseller who introduces her to great works—Hemingway, Camus, and Orwell, among others—that open her heart to the emotional power of literature and her mind to thrillingly different perspectives. Along the way, she experiences the ebbs and flows of friendship, the agony of grief, and the first steps and missteps in love.A gifted student, Lai wins a scholarship to study at the prestigious Peking University where she soon falls in with a theatrical band of individualists and misfits dedicated to becoming their authentic selves, despite the Communist Party’s insistence on conformity—and a new world opens before her. When student resistance hardens under the increasingly restrictive policies of the state, the group gets swept up in the fervor, determined to be heard, joining the masses of demonstrators and dreamers who display remarkable courage and loyalty in the face of danger. As 1989 unfolds, the spirit of change is in the air. . .Drawn from her own life, Lai Wen’s novel is mesmerizing and haunting—a universal yet intimate story of youth and self-discovery that plays out against the backdrop of a watershed historic event. Tiananmen Square captures the hope and idealism of a new generation and the lasting price they were willing to pay in the name of freedom.
The book has been described by the publisher as autobiographical fiction. Yes, the author is also the main character. Her life story is given but she has added some fictional details. I cannot tell what part is fiction and what part is true. I wonder whether this was done to prevent her name from being disclosed and putting her and her family in danger today from Chinese leaders. All we know is that she is married with two children and lives in the UK. The author's name is a pseudonym.
This is not a political book. We read toward the end why Lai joined the demonstrators. She was concerned about being censored. The book is mainly about her life beginning in primary school, then high school and then college. Lai spent most of her time reading in her bedroom when she was not at school so there isn't any information on what it was like to live in China during this time period, the 1970s. She did not have a lot of friends. There were five friends that she played with while they were in primary school. However, she only continued to see one of them while she was in high school. Of course, she falls in love with him. Gen is somewhat detached from her and she does not know why. They come from different backgrounds. Gen's parents hold government positions. Lai's father was a mapmaker and her mother was a housewife. Lai was close to her grandmother who was an odd character. You never knew what she was going to do or say. Grandma could be crude and lewd.
The events at Tiananmen Square were described toward the end of the book. The reader hears about the political views of the student leaders of the protests. Lai does not follow all of their viewpoints but is concerned that she cannot speak freely. The protests began on May 4, 1989. May 4 is the anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. We read about some of those protests but when May 30 rolls around, we read in detail what happened each day, through June 4, as the protestors stood their ground in Tiananmen Square. Lai was there on each of those days and could describe what happened from the protestors' perspective. The events of June 3 are heart wrenching. Lai was part of the crowd that the Army fired upon, killing hundreds of students. On June 4 her best friend stood in front of a tank, preventing it from moving. It is interesting that this person, known to the world as Tank Man, was actually a woman. I would love to know if the gender of this person was fiction or not. There is a famous photo of Tank Man that was taken by a photographer who was standing on the balcony of his hotel room. Look it up if you haven't seen it.
I loved this book. After finishing it, I researched the protests and found the names of the student leaders on Wikipedia. I researched them also and found out that all of them were able to get away from the police and ended up in either Taiwan or the U. S. There were other student leaders whose names we do not know. One of their mothers has founded a group to identify them and locate their bodies, if possible.
I am rating this book 10 out of 5 stars! It is that awesome. If you haven't read the book yet, you should get a copy. It is a must read.
10 out of 5 stars is a pretty amazing grade!!
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