To the Edge of the Sky: A Story of Love, Betrayal, Suffering and the Strength of Human Courage

A remarkable human story, written from the heart.

Jung Chang, author of Wild Swans.

She tells the by-now-familiar tale afresh, with a candid humility and patient lovingness that regularly snatched at this readers heart.

The Independent

Painful to read but difficult to put down, the book explains China's recent history through fascinating and harrowing personal accounts.

Publishers Weekly

An authentic survivors story, more disturbing and awe-inspiring than any TV reality show.

Kirkus Reviews

The book is an excellent account of life during and before the reign of Mao Tse-Tung. Her story of the brutality, inhumane treatment, poverty, and countless and unnecessary death by a ruling monster is shocking and horrifying, while her accounts of the strength of the Chinese people and the hunger, hardships, and horrible life they live, but somehow survive is daunting. To the Edge of the Sky is a beautiful book and should be read by everyone interested in Chinese history and culture.

Jill Dobbe - Reviewer

A well written, vivid account.

Brigitt Amthor - Educator

This is an exhilarating read. Its emotive, its beautiful and its shocking, but Anhuas serenity and strength shine through. A must read.

Tracy Shephard - reviewer

A real eye-opener on what life was like in China.

Jacqui Sinclair - Reviewer

There are highs and lows, tears and laughter in this beautifully descriptive book. To find out what really happened in China in the 20th Century and how it affected Anhua is incredible. A really touching read.

Echoes in an Empty Room

A fascinating and moving memoir of life in twentieth-century China. Anhua Gao brings one familys experiences to life with her vivid descriptions of personal and historical events. Thoroughly recommended reading.

Nicky Harman, literary translator.

Thanks to the author for revealing one of the darkest periods in Chinese history with her personal experience and elaborate writing. As an old man who has gone through the notorious Cultural Revolution, her story is by no means unfamiliar to me. I strongly recommend this book to the younger generations. Anhuas touching story will keep warning us the tragic consequences of tyrannical rule, and constantly remind us that we should do our utmost to prevent our children from suffering what young Anhua had suffered.

Gao Chao, professor of Nanjing University, China

I wanted to tell the whole world the truth about China. People living outside didnt really understand what happened because my parents died a long time ago I could not do my duty and look after them. I was too young. So I have written a book for them.

Despite suffering terrible heartache, loss and pain growing up in communist China, Anhua Gao found courage, hope and, eventually, love. This is her story: the story of a woman who, whether she tried to live with or struggle against the harsh ideology of Red China, was treated with shocking inhumanity.

When her parents died, leaving Anhua and her siblings orphans, they were hailed by Mao Tse Tung as revolutionary martyrs. But her parents' reputation proved a fragile shield from the horrors of communist China. Her life torn apart by the whims of the state, Anhua found herself alone something she fully realised when, after serving with distinction as a nurse in the Red Army, her own sister betrayed her, blighting her future. Ill-treated for years by her cruel husband, she was then thrown into jail when the security police accused her of being an enemy agent because she spoke English. While there she not only experienced appalling deprivation and bore witness to hideous torture, but was completely isolated from her young daughter not even being told who was caring for her.

Moving, sometimes shocking, but always compelling, this is the tale of someone who, against unbelievable odds, survived and, finally, found a happiness she had not dared to hope for.

**

From Publishers Weekly

Gao and her country, the People's Republic of China, start out on equal ground, both coming into existence in 1949. But as Gao grows into a strong and thoughtful adult, her beloved country disintegrates before her eyes. Schooled in Communist propaganda since infancy, her ideas are smashed by the hypocrisy she sees all around her. Starvation, cannibalism, spousal abuse, unjust imprisonment, humiliation and the denial of anything good or enjoyable are among the countless atrocities she and her comrades endure. Her parents, revered Communist officials who are both dead by the time she is 11, are deemed revolutionary martyrs-an accolade that eventually saves Gao's life but awards her only slight privilege throughout treacherous years of suspicion and political unrest. Though her parents' status and good connections occasionally prove useful, Gao is hardly spared from the harsh living conditions and feral survivalism that defined the Cultural Revolution. Through her many ordeals, Gao never loses her sense of compassion for others, even remarking, "We were constantly told that two-thirds of the world was under a capitalist regime and that the people were living in an abyss of suffering as if they were in deep water and scorching fire'.... I began to feel so sorry for the rest of the world. If this washeaven' in China, how bad was the `hell' they had to put up with?" Painful to read but difficult to put down, the book explains China's recent history through fascinating and harrowing personal accounts. 45 b&w photos, map.

Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Born the same year as the People's Republic (1949), Gao begins her memoir with her parent's self-sacrifice and dedication in the Communist cause, leading to her own privileged childhood. The title refers to how Gao saw Britain on a map as a child, when she believed that all capitalists lived in a hell compared to the Chinese communist heaven. By the end of this debut book, though, Gao is on her way to England. She is objective and sometimes even humorous as she describes the political tides in China from 1949 to 1994 and where they lead her. Some of the events Gao recounts are horrendous, yet there are also instances of human goodness, such as a righteous judge who saves Gao from death, teachers who try to teach despite fear of torture, and jail mates who show Gao survival skills. She describes people's varying reactions to a reign of terror-some identify with their oppressors, some survive by subterfuge, and some cling blindly to their idealism. Though the book shares similarities with others, such as Jung Chang's Wild Swans, Gao's picaresque and evenhanded voice are unique. Recommended for public libraries.

Eve Alison Nyren, Sacramento P.L.

Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.