Thank you, NetGalley and Berkley Pub, for my free book for review.

I'm deeply moved by the harrowing experience of Hai, her mother, and her sisters. The cruelty they endured from their family and the abandonment that left them to face the consequences meant for the men in their family is truly heartbreaking. These women showed remarkable resilience as they escaped from their small province to another city, encountering poverty as refugees, yet finding help from people along the way.

The book delves into the complexities of family relationships, including dynamics with in-laws, siblings, and parent-child relationships. It also explores Chinese culture and tradition, shedding light on the significance placed on male children versus females.

While the story begins with heart-wrenching events, it ends on a hopeful note. It's a narrative that spans the communist war and, most importantly, delves into the themes of family, traditions, and the inspiration for change, particularly in the context of mothers and their sacrifices.

Once I started, I couldn't put this book down. Ms. Chung's writing skillfully weaves a captivating story that enthralls from beginning to end.

This book - brilliant; heart wrenching; tragic; brutal.
Such an important read!
A glorious story of family - and the place of girls and women in China. So well done- cannot recommend enough!

Thank you @berkleypub and @prhaudio for my complimentary digital and audio copies. My thoughts are my own. #penguinrandomhousepartners

What a compelling story! Set in China in the late 1940s, this novel, based on the author’s family, describes the harrowing experiences of a mother and her daughters as they are left behind (with little to survive on) in hostile territory as the new Communist regime comes into power.

I was captivated from the very beginning! Told through the first person viewpoint of Hai, the oldest daughter, Hai tells how Chinese women grow up in a culture where women are considered to be insignificant, often thought of as just another mouth to feed. Hai watches as her mother, who has internalized this belief, suffers unbelievable belittling and cruelty at the hands of her mother-in-law, Nai Nai, while Hai’s father turns a blind eye. When word reaches them that the new regime will be punishing landlords and confiscating lands and belongings, Nai Nai and the men flee to safety, leaving Hai and her mother and sisters behind. Hai suffers severe punishment in her father’s place and the mother and daughters narrowly escape as they try to get to Hai’s father. The mother and young girls suffer through extreme poverty and sickness, but they finally make their way to their family, who are less than excited to welcome them.

I was moved by Hai’s experiences, and shocked to learn that some of these beliefs still exist. Be sure to read the author’s note, and don’t miss this moving story!

This book is a novel but reads like a memoir. Based on the experiences of the author's grandmother during the Communist Revolution in China, we see the horrors of what the war brought to the children at the heart of this story. Also at the heart of the story is the old fashioned Chinese belief that women and girls are thought to be worthless. The book was well written and definitely a page turner. I highly recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC!

Eve J. Chung’s "Daughters of Shandong" is an incredible debut novel, forgoing historical fiction bloat in favor of an intimate focus on a single family.

This is an unexpected early contender for my favorite book of the year.

I often find myself frustrated with how historical fiction treats its characters as receptacles for important events—object lessons at history’s mercy, either too passive to feel like more than set dressing or too involved to feel like anything less than mythic.

That is not the case here.

Chung seems so conscious of this book’s scope, and for good reason. In the author’s note, she mentions that "Daughters of Shandong" was largely written on her phone in the margins of her life as a full-time international human rights lawyer and a parent to two children; it shows.

It shows in the way that there is absolutely no filler in this novel.

It shows in the way the narrator feels totally present in each moment.

It shows in how each relational quirk feels real and inhabited.

It shows in the way that the book feels essential—like it had to be written.

Every single aspect of “Daughters of Shandong" is marked with a rare intentionality and immediacy, and reading it feels like an immense privilege. The book is not biographical, but it is informed by Chung’s family history, and it’s clearly a labor of love. I’m not sure I’ve read another book where that love feels as palpable as it does here.

This is ultimately a story about womanhood and motherhood and sisterhood in the face of abandonment, and I don’t mean that in the back-of-the-cover blurb sense—the book is so genuinely thoughtful about the cultural and historical nuances of gender in China, but it never falls prey to feel-good reductionism. Instead, there’s a real warmth and richness to how Chung explores her themes, even when the circumstances are harsh. The family dynamics depicted here will be familiar to anybody who has sisters—fierce loyalty and ferocious animosity in equal measure.

Likewise, the author embodies a similar sense of nuance in how she depicts the different individual responses to the Chinese civil war. She’s compassionate in recognizing that many people just fight for survival in whichever way feels most intuitive, and nothing is as simple as a black and white dichotomy. Whether describing personal or political relationships, Chung has such an astute and empathetic understanding of human behavior.

Finally, it is absolutely wild that this is a debut novel. It showcases such a strong and self-assured voice, and it’s one that feels singularly generous in its storytelling. I’m so glad I got to read "Daughters of Shandong," and I eagerly await Eve J. Chung's future books.

Thank you Berkley Pub for the free book and thank you PRH Audio for my #gifted listening copy of Daughters of Shandong! #PRHAInfluencer #PRHAudioPartner #BerkleyBookstagram #berkleypub #BerkleyIG #berkley

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐃𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐠
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐄𝐯𝐞 𝐉. 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠
𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫: 𝐘𝐮-𝐋𝐢 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐧
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟕, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

★★★★★

Daughters of Shandong left me speechless. I am convinced that this is one of the most powerful historical fiction novels I have read. This debut novel by author Eve J. Chung is nothing short of extraordinary. Daughters of Shandong is full of powerful female characters who made so many sacrifices for future generations.

This was a time period that I knew little about, and this book has made me want to learn so much more. Set in China in the 1940s and 1950s, Daughters of Shandong is the story of the Ang family, cursed for having only daughters. The Ang family, while prosperous, are more concerned with their lack of an heir. Hai, is the oldest girl and looks after her sisters. Her mother is regularly abused by the family, specifically their grandmother, Nai Nai, for failing to birth a male. During the cultural revolution, with the communist army closing in on their town, the rest of the family leaves behind the girls and their mother, since they are seen as useless mouths to feed. Now, they must bond together to survive in a changing world full of uncertainty.

I applaud Eve J. Chung for writing this novel. She is a Taiwanese American lawyer and women's human rights specialist who wrote this book while working full time with an infant and a toddler. On top of that, she wrote at least half of the manuscript on her cell phone whenever she found spare time. The determination displayed by Chung to tell this story is truly inspiring and I cannot wait to read whatever she writes next.

This book is full of love, hope, resilience, and sacrifice. If you are looking for a book with strong female characters, this is it. This one will definitely be one of my top books of the year!

🎧I alternated between the physical book, and the audiobook, narrated by the remarkable Yu-Li Alice Shen. I loved my time listening to the audiobook because the emotions from the narrator were just so rich. I’ve listened to a few books by this narrator before and I was so excited to have the opportunity to listen to her narrator this audiobook. I could not have picked a better narrator for the emotionally charged audiobook. She nailed it and I highly recommend the audio format if that option is available to you!

Posted on Goodreads on April 25, 2024: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144922955?ref=nav_profile_l
**Posted on Instagram - Full Review- on or around May 7, 2024: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
**Posted on Amazon on May 7, 2024
**-will post on designated date

⭐️: 4.5/5

In 1948 as civil war ravages China, the wealthy, landowning Angs are concerned with their lack of a male heir. When the Communist army closes in on their town, the household flees, leaving behind Hai, her sisters, and her mother, viewing them all as useless mouths to feed. Hai, as the oldest, is chosen by the cadres to stand trial for her family’s crimes, but with the worst yet to come, the family embarks on a journey through china, all the way to Hong Kong, and eventually Taiwan to confront the family that left them behind.

I absolutely devoured this story, which was based on the author’s own family history. Although I usually prefer going in to books more blind to how they may tie into the author’s own, personal life, since I think it helps me view them as their own entities, rather than trying to make connections that may not be there, I think knowing that it came from a place of personal relevance to the author made this one a lot more urgent and relevant. The book as a whole was such an amazing story of the resilience of women, even those who were indoctrinated from a young age with the belief that they were of a sub-class of human to men. The amount of historical research that I know must go into these types of stories, rooted in real events, is always mind-boggling to me. Although this is definitely a historical fiction book, I always am shocked to realize how recent in history some events occurred, like the cultural revolution in China. I highly recommend this book, because although at times it is a little hard to read due to the things the women in the story are going through, it is such an inspiring story.

Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher @berkleypub for this free eARC for my review!!

“The gift of a stranger can make the difference of a lifetime.”

I enjoyed this historical fiction novel about a time in history I am not very familiar with — China’s Communist Revolution. Really though, it is about how women and girls were seen as less than in Chinese culture, and one woman’s determination to break that cycle.. The resilience that the main character Hai has is very inspiring and allows her to survive and ultimately thrive against all odds.

I think the line above captures the essence of this book. There were so many times that Hai and her family were taken in and taken care of by relative strangers, many of whom did not have much for themselves, but were willing and happy to share with others.

I’m giving this book four and a half stars. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

The storyline and characters are very compelling and display the tough and difficult slog of survival for those women left behind by the patriarch, who escaped to Taiwan during the Chinese revolution. The writing transition is a bit rough between the personal and, I bet, largely autobiographical sections of the book. But the fortitude of these determined and self-sacrificing women is remarkable.

Fascinating book, hard to put down, difficult to read about the challenges (and horrors) the women went through. What a compelling window into the history of that period and the status of women. Highly recommended.

An amazing multi generational epic, based on the true experiences of the authors grandmother in China during the communist revolution. The daughter of a landowner, she along with her mother and sisters must find a way to escape and survive when the rest of their family abandons the in the wake of war and revolution. I loved this book, and recommend it to fans of Amy Tan or Lisa See.

This riveting novel, the author’s first and based on the life of her grandmother, follows the fortunes of a mother and three daughters abandoned by their wealthy family in soon-to-be Communist China. It is 1948, and Chairman Mao’s forces are moving into Shandong Province, where the Nationalist Army is in retreat. Although the town of Zhucheng is small and rural, the Ang family owns a palatial estate, built by generations of government officials and scholars.

But even before the war turns against them, the family has little use for its eldest daughter-in-law, Chiang-Yue, who has produced three daughters but no sons. Now she is pregnant again, and because she and her husband have defied his mother and a prophecy, the new child is also guaranteed to be a girl—or so the mother-in-law believes. The family lives by the ancient Chinese proverb “Value men and belittle women,” so even though its second son does have a male heir, the child’s existence is not enough to redeem Chiang-Yue in the eyes of her in-laws.

So when the Communists approach, the rest of the family, including the girls’ father, flee with most of their belongings and leave the narrator, Li-Hai, with her mother and sisters—ostensibly to keep the palatial home from being confiscated by either the People’s Army or impoverished local farmers. Of course, this doesn’t work. Soldiers move into the estate the first day. Then Li-Hai, although only thirteen, is hauled before an impromptu tribunal where she is to stand in for her missing male relatives. She barely escapes with her life and suffers permanent damage to her knees from frostbite. Only Chiang-Yue’s history of treating the villagers kindly saves her and her daughters—first from execution, then from starvation.

Despite the family’s cruel treatment of them, Chiang-Yue insists that duty requires her to rejoin her husband. Thus begins their trek across China, from Zhucheng to the local city hub of Qingdao, then south to Guangzhou (Hong Kong), and eventually across the strait to Taiwan. Hiding in the bushes, scrounging homeless in the streets, surviving a refugee camp—the Ang women and girls are, in their own stubborn way, relentless. And I swear, you will root for them every step of the way.

I plan to interview this author for the New Books Network (link below) around the time of the book’s release.

Daughter’s of Shandong rivals a handful of asian american historical fiction novels I’ve read in my life; It is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. I read the ‘last’ 70% in one day. Daughter’s of Shandong, a loosely autobiographical novel about a mother and her three daughter’s journey to Taiwan amidst the communist revolution in the late 1940’s. This is my first ARC copy that I have been approved for on NetGalley.com And I am so thrilled I was given the opportunity to devour this intricate, heart wrenching, and powerful love letter to Eve’s late grandmother. As a granddaughter of a first generation immigrant, and the eldest daughter in an all girl family, (with the exception of my dad) this story resonated with me so deeply. The story was so vivid and compelling, it was the first story I’ve read in a while that played in my brain like a picture. It reminded me so much of ‘Beasts of a Little Land by Kim Ju-Hea.
Women’s rights are still an uphill battle we see in the time of the 2020’s unfortunately. It’s novels like these that continue to inspire young women to continue to fight for our rights as humans, women, mothers, and daughters. The over arching themes of feminism, societal inequality, immigration, identity, family ideologies, and poverty, worked simultaneously to create a very realistic and hard hitting story of the hard work and dedication people endure for the ones they love. A wonderful book to add to your reading list. This will become a must read for anyone. Thank you so much NetGalley.com and Berkeley Publishing Group sending me this free copy of this masterpiece.

Fascinating story about life during the communist revolution. Lots of good detail about the struggles they went through.

Marvelous Masterpiece

Daughters of Shandong is The Debut Novel of the Year—if not The Novel of the Year!

It is the engrossing tale of a mother and her daughters, abandoned in enemy territory with little more than the clothes on their backs.

Chung beautifully captures the complex, tangled web of life’s pressures from the obligation to the family, social norms, economic strain, power structures, and the autonomy of the individual while the ship of fate is being blown about by the wind of desperation, hope for the future, and the ripple effects of kindness.

Set in China in the late 1940’s/early 1950’s, this story follows the Ang family who is solidly in the crosshairs of the newly in power Communist regime. Suddenly, this prosperous family’s old way of life has vanished in an instant. Father, Nai Nai (Grandmother) and Yei Yei (Grandfather) pack up all their worldly possessions and hightail it to safety, leaving behind Mother and their daughters in hostile territory with little more than the grit to survive. Will they ever see Father again? And do they even want to?

Based on a true story, this book dazzles—it has scenes as moving as Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, how one small act of kindness can have such an enormous impact. With the skill of a master craftsperson, Chung impossibly balances the harsh, grim realities of the cruel and dangerous world with the uplifting hope and determination of the women along with the generosity and compassion of strangers (even enemies at times!).

Plus, you have to stick around until the end to see if Nai Nai will finally get her just desserts for being so cruel to Mother.

An unforgettable read that could move a heart of lead, this glowing review couldn’t possibly do this book justice. Captivating, spell binding, extraordinary fail to convey the riveting nature of Daughters of Shandong.

well written, but a bit too long. It's a tough read telling the story of a sisters and their mother as they try and survive in Communist China while attempting to join their family in Taiwan. they survive brutal renunciation, extreme poverty and hunger, and travel throughout the mainland over years until reunified with their father/husband.

"Daughters of Shandong" very swiftly proved to be an immersive and engaging read. Eve Chung's core characters, especially the first-person narrator Hai, were all wonderfully and complexly fleshed out. And I loved how no matter where in China the book took me, I fully felt transported there. However, I think what stuck out to me most was the thick theme of resilience that could be found all throughout the book as Hai and her family fought a veritable army of challenges, ranging from the ravages of civil war to the weight of centuries-old traditional mores favoring boys after girls.

Overall, a spectacular debut for Chung and hopefully just the start of at least several books to come in the future.

Excellent debut. A non-sentimental journey of China's revolution seen through the eyes of women. For lovers of strongly researched historical fiction. I always loved the novels by Pearl Buck as a youth. This novel follows in the footsteps of the best of her work.

“What is the point of saving life if there is no livelihood? We are only living to die another day.”

Daughters of Shandong is based on the authors, family’s story. It takes place during the communist revolution in China. The Ang family is cursed with all girls. Hai is the eldest daughter and she tells the story of her mother’s courage, after her father left her, her mother and sisters to stay and defend their home. Her mother’s resilience and fortitude persevered throughout the story.

Chinese people have a saying, “Value men; belittle women.” Many Chinese woman today are still fighting today to change this culture. Each generation in the story fought harder and harder to make change and to prove the value of women.

Eve J. Chung wrote about her grandmothers fight to save her daughters. She did an incredible amount of research to fill in the pieces of the times. Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This story took me through it, I didn't know kuch about the civil war and the Chinese involvement. Hai is such a strong character and the things she had to go through from the start is powerful, knowing that people still go through similar struggles. And moving to protect family and the l9ve they have is just amazing and I would recommend this to any and everyone. Such a beautiful story