Becoming Madame Mao

Becoming Madame Mao, by Anchee Min

"Well, I won't surrender. When I was a child my mother used to tell me that I should think of myself as grass - born to be stepped on. But I think of myself as a peacock among hens. I am not being judged fairly. Side by side Mao Tse-Tung and I stood, yet he is considered a god while I am a demon. Mao Tse-Tung and I were married for thirty-eight years. The number is thirty-eight."

Anchee Min's follow up to the popular Empress Orchid is a fictional account of the life of Jiang Ching, wife of Chairman Mao and leader of the infamous Gang of Four. Although a work of fiction, the novel is based around historical events, and Anchee Min displays great imagination and empathy in portraying a little-known but highly influential historical figure. She presents a character whose constant defiance of Chinese society's oppression of women results in a resentful, angry and proud character who, even unto Mao's death, struggled for recognition and what was invariably unrequited attention. Although not as colourful as Empress Orchid, Min's writing style in this second novel is much bolder. Quick, short sentences reflect the protagonist's temperament, and she continuously shifts the narrative perspective between the first and third person, often contrasting Jiang Ching's own perspective on events with historical fact. The second half of the book is not as effective as the first, partly because the narrative style is difficult to maintain, and because the earlier years are arguably more interesting, despite the fact that the historical repercussions of the later years are far more significant. Nevertheless, this is a highly accomplished and original work.