Woman from Shanghai

By Xianhui Yang,

Book cover of Woman from Shanghai: Tales of Survival from a Chinese Labor Camp

Book description

In Woman from Shanghai, Xianhui Yang, one of China’s most celebrated and controversial writers, gives us a work of fact-based fiction that reveals firsthand—and for the first time in English—what life was like in one of Mao’s most notorious labor camps.

Between 1957 and 1960, nearly three thousand Chinese citizens…

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

Why read it?

1 author picked Woman from Shanghai as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

When it comes to Mao’s labor camps in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, few books are as powerful and authentic as Yang’s collection of 13 stories. Set against one of the darkest tragedies in China’s modern history, these stories are based on his interviews with the survivors of a forced-labor camp in China’s northwestern desert. The incarcerated were mostly condemned intellectuals and government officials, and to them, starvation and death were daily threats. Despite the unimaginable suffering, there was love, compassion, and dignity, which gives you hope about humanity.

From Fan's list on China’s cultural revolution.

Want books like Woman from Shanghai?

Our community of 10,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Woman from Shanghai.

Browse books like Woman from Shanghai

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Shanghai, and China?

10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Shanghai, and China.

The Chinese Cultural Revolution Explore 36 books about the Chinese Cultural Revolution
Shanghai Explore 51 books about Shanghai
China Explore 576 books about China