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The Cry of the Silkworm

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The Cry of the Silkworm

By: Shi Naseer
Narrated by: Louise-Mai Newberry
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About this listen

Growing up in 1990s China, in a village where failure to observe the rigidly enforced one-child policy is deemed tantamount to a crime, Chen Di must fight to get the education she craves in a world in which boys are prioritized. Following her mother's untimely death, 16-year-old Chen Di's thirst for vengeance against those she holds responsible brings about her transformation from a gutsy, marginalized child into an aikido-practicing young woman who braves Shanghai.

A startling illumination of the ripple effect of the authoritarian regime's policies still being felt today, this moving debut is perfect for fans of The Beekeeper of Aleppo and A Thousand Splendid Suns.

©2024 Shi Naseer (P)2024 W. F. Howes Ltd Coming of Age Historical Fiction Small Town & Rural Women's Fiction

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Powerful and Sensational!

I don't have the habit of writing reviews but as an only child born and raised in China during the one-child policy, I have to for this book.
The Cry of the Silkworm left me a mixture of feelings. Sympathy and anger, hatred and forgiveness, remorse and reconciliation. Like a silkworm trapped in a cocoon, about to be boiled to death before breaking free, I felt Chen Di's struggle vividly as I relived her story in the 1990s to 2000s under the one-child policy, a setting so masterfully and accurately depicted by the author. Chen Di's poignant and tension-filled journey not only took me through an important part of our recent history but also allowed me to think deeply about the world and our human nature.
I can't ask for a better story to capture the struggle my generation of only children went through. I moved to the West twenty years ago and I am grateful for the opportunity to read such a novel written in English. The audiobook is also read with such a poweful yet heart-touching voice! I hope this book will reach many more around the world.

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