One Child

By Mei Fong,

Book cover of One Child: The Story of China's Most Radical Experiment

Book description

Tang Shuxiu and her husband are on an 800-mile train journey from Beijing to Shifang, where they believe their only child has perished in a recent earthquake. Three days after the event, Tang is too dehydrated to cry.

Liu Ting becomes a national hero when he brings his mother to…

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Why read it?

1 author picked One Child as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Mei Fong has spent years documenting and traveling across China to meet the people who live with the consequences of the draconian one-child policy. I was riveted by this slim but expansive book, its searing clarity, deep compassion, and unflinching interrogation only avail to an outsider unhampered by the censorship in China. Mei Fong explores in depth how the one-child policy has changed every facet of social life from cradle to grave: courtship, marriage, women’s work, only children, adoption/baby trafficking, surrogate, IVF, aging, retirement, hospice/death, and much more. Weaving in with the author’s own quest to become a mother, Mei…

Want books like One Child?

Our community of 10,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like One Child.

Browse books like One Child

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in the one child policy, China, and dystopian?

10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about the one child policy, China, and dystopian.

The One Child Policy Explore 5 books about the one child policy
China Explore 574 books about China
Dystopian Explore 544 books about dystopian