This is a very simply written book. The flow of the language and the scenes are a little abrupt in transition. This is not necessarily a deal breaker, but I did find it hard to read the book continuously.

The best part was the author's decision to put all the events that occurred in chronological order at the end, something that showed how often things changed, just to change back with the next revolution.

The book tracks the life of the author, and by extension her family for a couple of years before that. Most of what we see is China in the late 1950s until 1980 and it's impossible to fathom the tumultuous transitions that kept happening to the average person there. The content here was eye-opening and a lot of it were things I've only briefly heard about. It is different to see the detailed account of the changes that happened.

Having lived in Hong Kong recently, I can imagine how it must have impacted the country based on the details the author provides. Just like in many places, export quality items are always reserved for outside the country. I can see it happening to my own country's spices sometimes.

It is not an easy story, but told in the manner it was, I was unable to emotionally connect with the content. It might have been a good thing in the long run, since I was able to read without feeling the trauma of the people too much.

I highly recommend this as a simple way to find out all the things one might have wanted to know about China during its transition phase.

I received an ARC thanks to Netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

I am drawn to any form of writing based on the beginnings of communism in China. This memoir was a gem in the subject. It was simple, with the author really painting a picture of everyday life in rural China, It followed the new wave of politics that swept into every aspect of Chinese life. I really enjoyed this one.

Amy Chan Zhou, the author of Flowing With The Pearl River, has experienced events that the likes of you and me would find breathtakingly violent and unjust. She describes those events matter-of-factly, with no recourse to histrionics. The result is jaw-dropping.

In an understated way, she takes you from her childhood to her eventual escape from Red China. Along the way, she relates to you the twists and turns of the Cultural Revolution, a self-devouring crocodile which caused widespread social dissent, injustice, physical and mental suffering, and death.

The forces of an evil regime inflicted fear on Amy Chan Zhou for much, if not all of, of her early life . Yet, as children do, she managed to find islands of enjoyment within the sea of cruelty swirling all around her. She describes these rare highs in addition to the many lows she encountered.

If you want to experience a world totally different to the one you live in, a world which, amazingly, really existed, then this is the book for you. .

An interesting memoir about what it was like growing up in rural communist China.

Easy to read, interesting, packed with information. Makes you want to sympathize with their trials & hardships...of which we have all had.

(I was able to preview this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.)