I'm glad I read this book...I wasn't sure if I'd be able to bear another harrowing account of Mao Tse Dong's China but this book seemed to be infused with a radiant faith in love and hope--surely some of the resources that allowed Meihong Xu to survive those difficult times in the first place. I don't think it should be so quickly cast into the category of "love story", although that aspect does give the book a wonderful humanistic quality. In some ways I feel as if I came away with a better understanding of China's political and bureaucratic systems than I did after reading Red China Blues and Wild Swans--maybe because Xu portrays these systems in a more recent context that makes the way today's China operates--in many ways very similarly--even more chilling. To read this book is to feel life--its hardships, struggles, sadnesses and idealisms--and of course the love which strives to bloom despite the obstacles, and which unfortunately cannot always persevere. (A very realistic portrayal of it, I think).

The subtitle may cause confusion. Many readers have complained about this book not being a love story the title claims. Reviewers question Xu Meihong's motive in marrying Professor Larry Engelmann. "She loves him, or does she?" Comments like this flood the reviews. Love and romance aside, *Daughter of China* tells of all the oppressive, threatening, secretive, manipulative practices of the Communist Party. Much of what happened to Meihong and her family, as she has noted, is what foreigners don't see and beyond their imagination. "It doesn't mean it's not there just because you don't see it."

Xu Meihong grew up during the upheaval of the Proletarian Cultural Revolution and was admitted into the PLA (People's Liberation Army) at the age of 17. Selected as one of the 12 Pandas, she was among the country's sharpest women matriculated at the Institute of Interational Relations in Nanjing. She became a member of the elite intelligence corps and was told to spy on visiting American professor Larry Engelmann. As Meihong got to know the professor, she realized "this man has nothing to do with breaching Chinese national security" and Meihong's old loyalties to the Red party began to shake. She started to "have compunction" for Larry and tried to protect him from being pursued or possibly arrested by the Chinese government. When their friendship was discovered, Meihong was arrested, beaten, interrogated, and imprisoned by PLA Colonel. She decided that she would not sacrifice Larry in exchange for her own life. When told to sign a forged petition that falsely accused Larry of raping her, Meihong firmly took her ground and refused. Professor Engelmann was asked to leave the country. Upon expulsion from the Institute and thus the PLA, Xu Meihong was sent back to her village in Lishi in Jiangsu province. She was forevered marked by the government and that "there will never be a normal life for her in China again." Her dossier will forever her everywhere she settles down.

This book is stunning in the way how Meihong Xu has disclosed some of the darkest PLA practices. She recalled the warning given to all incoming cadets about keeping everything confidential: the Institute's location, phone number, contents of the courses, modes of training, etc. Yet in this book she has gone through even the details of their rifle practice, how the cadets were required to work the AK-47 blindfolded because enemies could spew an attack at night. She talks about her interrogation by PLA colonel in gory details. "The truth, is what [the PLA colonel] say it is. It is not for you to decide or to judge." Therefore, if one proclaims innocence upon his arrest, it will only compound the seriousness of one's wrongdoing.

The book also depicts power struggle wintin the Communist Party. The country finds itself at a point where the old conservatives, those who disfavor party reforms, conflict with the younger party reformists. When Meihong was arrested for her association with a foreigner (which affects national security as the PLA claims), the colonel wanted desperately to use her and her relationship with Larry to unmask, discredit and purge a clique of PLA officers who had been working quietly for broad reforms in the military.

If Anchee Min's *Red Azalea* has been a joltingly honest account of life under Mao China, *Daughter of China* is an extraordinary tale of how a PLA officer with a bright, promising future battles turns herself into an enemy of the PLA and battles for her love and freedom. Meihong had seen firsthand how the Party and the PLA used deception and lies to confound its own and to turn friend against friend and lover against lover, even family member against family member. In a sense, *Daughter of China* is more realistic than *Red Azalea*. The tales about Meihong's aunt Lingdi being purged, her mother working far northeast during the famine to support the family, her great-grandfather being dropped in boiling oil again testify to the austere, oppressed lives of common people under Mao China. 4.3 stars.

Last week on a trip to Belgium I started to read a Tom Clancy book. I ventured into an English bookstore in Brussels and stumbled upon "Daughter of China." Being an American man recently married to a Chinese woman, I couldn't resist this read. Haven't been back to finish the Clancy book yet - this one was far more interesting and suspenseful.

I found this a great account of Chinese culture as it truly contrasts with western culture - things I've learned through my own relationship. The accounts of pervasive curruption and political power plays for self-interest were amazing, and probably generally true. The way people were thrown off their land and left with nothing but to suffer during the early days of Mao Communism were fascinating.

Unfortunately, I couldn't help but question Meihong's sincerety in her relationship with Larry. I think she must have used him to get to America. This feeling brings into question the truth of her account throughout. I also pity "The General." If still alive, this book can't be doing this interesting character any good. Meihong and Larry are obviously two very complex people. I find it hard to believe Larry, a traveled, well read and previously divorced man is really so naive. All of these thoughts have given me days of pondering, so I have to say this is the best book I've read in a long time. I'd like to meet both of the authors and share experiences.