Thank you Recorded Books for allowing me to read and review The Woman Back from Moscow In Pursuit of Beauty by Ha Jin on NetGalley.

Narrator: Catherine Ho

Published: 11/28/23

Stars: 3

I cannot give you facts I was only able to follow along in a summary-like way. I feel incomplete. There is a story here, however, by my inability to follow along with the names and places, etc. I missed details thus leaving me uncertain. Sadly, I can only outline the book.

I would recommend if you are able to follow Chinese and Russian names.

The narration was fantastic.

The three stars is a representation of what I was able to take from the book with my shortcomings, not the book itself.

An engrossing audiobook; at times I had a hard time telling whether this was historical fiction or whether it was a biography. I learned a lot and thought it was a good book. My only complaint is that I didn't think the book was critical enough of communism and the director's involvement with it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Liked it, fun while I was reading it

Through the life of pioneering stage director, Sun Weishi (1921–1968)—this epic novel immerses us in the multifaceted history of China’s Communist Party.

The storytelling was good, but what really captured me was the history. In some ways, Sun's story was secondary and it really shouldn't have been.  I did however learn so much about the rise of communism and how China was viewed as less than by Russia. It's ironic that China's communist party endures far more intact than the way Russia's history has played out. 

The narrator, Catherine Ho, did a good job, I had no trouble understanding who was saying what, where, when, and with what expression/intension. 

Thank you to RB Media, NetGalley, and author Ha Jin for providing me with a digital ARC copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. The Woman Back from Moscow is out November 28, 2023.

While I found this audiobook incredibly interesting, it was far too long to hold me. It tells the story of a Chinese woman who studies theatre in China and goes to Moscow to study more. She is called back, but then the cultural revolution is going on - and that is as far as I made it. I liked the character and the tone. I just couldn't see making it through forty more hours of listening to it.

I really wanted to enjoy this audiobook but unfortunately it was not my favourite. The narrator was alright, but I didn't feel super interested in the story and the narrator didn't bring me in. I appreciate diverse stories and authors, and the synopsis sounded great, but overall it wasn't quite what I was hoping for. Thanks to netgalley and the ublisher for giving me the chance to listen to this audiobook

One thing that I really love is history and I thought that this would be great as this is an era in history that I love reading about. I have read several other works of Ha Jin and I found this one to be a little drier compared to some of his others, which was tough to get through, because of the length. It read more like a biography than fiction at time. I do think it was very well narrated and clearly it was well researched. It was a fascinating but also brutal period of time, and although I did have my difficulties with it, I think many people would enjoy the portrayal of these historical figures.

Extensively researched biographical novel of Chinese stage director Sun Weishi, and the tyranny of Chairman Mao’s Cultural Revolution. It reads more like a biography than a novel. The narrator lends authenticity as a native speaker in the pronunciation of the Chinese names. The reader comes to admire the integrity of Yo Mei (as Sun Weishi is called in the novel). It is appalling that she and thousands of other citizens were brutally tortured and murdered under the sick whims of a tyrannical political system.

What a fascinating read. The audiobook was absorbing. I loved the choice made by the narrator to read the characters' names with proper Chinese inflections. The book made historic figures come alive and put 20th century China history into such a vivid human framework, where I felt enlightened in a different way from straight history/nonfiction, which is committed to being accurate and doesn't allow for speculation. But the novel also felt different from fictional representations I've read about this swath of history, in that it rendered historic figures with plausible humanity and believable quirks. I'd never imagined, for example, Mao being a 'skirt-chaser,' or Zhou Enlai being a dapper ballroom dancer--but now have no trouble imagining these things. I was hooked from the beginning.

I ended up purchasing a physical copy for my collection. I enjoy learning about historical events and figures that are not often taught in schools, and this one was no exception. This was an insightful read and I would be interested in picking up more of Ha Jin's works.