Some of the stories made me cry, I can't imagine having to give up my child ( )

In questo libro Xinran (giornalista cinese trasferitasi a Londra a fine anni 90) offre numerose testimonianze di donne cinesi costrette ad abbandonare (ed in molti casi addirittura uccidere) le proprie figlie, la cui unica colpa era quella di nascere femmine in un paese dalla fortissima impronta patriarcale e maschilista; tutte le storie sono state raccontate all'autrice in prima persona dalle donne che hanno vissuto tali tragedie e ciò rende questo libro diverso dalle tipiche inchieste giornalistiche, molto più concentrato sul lato umano. Il rovescio della medaglia è che quindi manca di rigore scientifico: non si indaga mai seriamente sui fenomeni economici e sociali che hanno portato a questo stato di cose, si parla solo di mamme dal cuore straziato e figlie senza radici. Indubbiamente tutto vero e triste, ma se leggo un saggio vorrei che fossero i fatti a giocare un ruolo di primo piano, non il sentimentalismo.
Lo stile è scorrevole ma la struttura è un po' ripetitiva, in fondo non è altro che la stessa tipologia di storia ripetuta una decina di volte, con tutte le variazioni del caso.
In conclusione più che un' inchiesta questo lavoro di Xinran mi è sembrato uno sfogo per la sua tragedia personale ed una pubblicità per la sua associazione benefica. ( )

Review: Message From An Unknown Chinese Mother by Xinran. 11/18/2017

This was very well documental information about China’s culture, traditions, living arrangements, bearing children, and their Government policies. Xinan was a Chinese radio journalist and did a great amount of research which, was well written about individual interviews, family generations, and how little China has advanced over the years. Many of their norms are still being used today over sections of China. Xinran writes with considerate prose after interviewing many Chinese Mother’s about their most painful memories of their newborns forced predetermine fates after birth.

The information was intense how some mother’s were forced to put their babies up for adoption, abandoned babies at hospitals, orphanages, on the street, and how they’ve seen newborns drowned, smothered, and dropped into a waste pan head first. China Government had control of the birth rate where families were only allowed one male child per household, no daughters. Chinese families who lived hidden in remote poverty areas had more than one child and they kept their daughters.

Some of the female babies born were adopted by families of other countries which a few mother’s thought they would have a better life. Xinan made sure the reader knew these Chinese mothers did want and loved their children. If a daughter did survive by chance they could never inherit property. Plus, if the mother bears a daughter the mothers are subjected to years of verbal, emotional and physical abuse, and shunned by the community. Some women are consumed with so much guilt that they committed suicide.

Xinan established a charity called “Mothers Bridge of Love” (MBL). It helps Chinese women who have lost children and children who have been adopted may lack an understanding of their cultural background and gone on living in destitute conditions in China. ( )

This is incredibly hard to read. The stories are about Chinese mothers who, for cultural and economic reasons, were forced to give up their baby daughters for overseas adoption, the alternative being the killing of the girl at birth. The book claims that in less than 10 years 120 000 baby girls were adopted out of China, which seems a huge amount, but these are just the lucky few. This is a heartbreaking book and I was veering between sadness and outrage from the first page to the last. ( )

The book is written to Chinese adopted girls to offer them insight into why their parents may have given them away. As expected it is poignant and rife with agonized mothers. It also gave insight into Chinese life over the past 20 to 30 years from city to rural settings. ( )