Becoming Madame Mao by Anchee Min

The Point Loma Writer’s Symposium by the Sea site says it well:

"As a girl, Anchee Min learned to write 'Long live Chairman Mao,' before she learned to write her own name. She was devoted to Mao and to communism and was selected to star in a propaganda film for having the ideal 'proletarian' look. Mao died before the film was completed. Min was labeled a political outcast by association. In 1984, with the help from friends in the United States, Min left China and came to America. Within six months she had taught herself English. Her bestselling memoir, Red Azalea, the story of her childhood in communist China, has been compared to The Diary of Anne Frank. Min credits English with giving her the voice and vocabulary to write about growing up during China’s Cultural Revolution. Called a 'wild, passionate and fearless American writer' by The New York Times, Min has written four other works of historical fiction: Katherine, Becoming Madame Mao, Wild Ginger and Empress Orchid."

Anchee Min will be one of the featured speakers at this conference in February, so I made it a point to pick up one of her books. Simple and powerful, Min’s biographical novel explores the development of Mao Zedong’s most prominent female companion. The protagonist begins life as congenitally subjugated Yunhe, who defies her mother’s attempts to bind her feet. Later, she throws off all connections to her family entirely in her efforts to distinguish herself, ever believing that she is a “peacock among hens.”

After moving to Shanghai to create a new persona as an actress, Yunhe reinvents herself as Lan Ping. She becomes entangled in the Communism that is beginning to take shape, eventually crossing paths with Mao Zedong himself. She bewitches him, and he christens her Jiang Ching. But as Mao gains political power, the romance wanes, and Jiang Ching must struggle the rest of her life to achieve and maintain any clout within her personal and political realms.

Ever the actress, Jiang Ching plays the parts that will give her the advantages she needs to gain the power she craves. But navigating the hierarchy of Communist Chinese government requires an unceasing vigilance and ruthless vindictiveness that ultimately destroys the bearer. Jiang Ching spends her years with Mao constantly warring with him and his subordinates, only to be subjected to factory work after Mao’s death.

Though Min’s Madame Mao is fully human, her merciless craving for domination discourages sympathy. The novel itself, however, deserves commendation. Min alternates between the first and third person, allowing her protagonist to speak for herself while placing her in the context of her comrades. Her prose, unadorned with superfluous modifiers or punctuation, reflects the simplicity of Madame Mao’s unceasing struggle for fulfillment. Laden with Sinocentric imagery, beautifully understated, Min’s novel captivates and ravishes.