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The book moves back and forth between Peace‘s life as a housekeeper in Canada and the story she is telling about these women of China. That contrast makes the story even more vivid. As Peace records days with little or nothing to eat in the north of China, she comes back into the "present" in Canada to feed the dog great gobs of food. Peace remembers that when she was a child, her grandmother warned her "not to come close to the well for fear a ghost might catch me." She walks very close to the well of memory as she tells this story, and narrowly escapes the ghosts. Peace wonders why she never could bring herself to write to him, in China, from her home in Canada. it is too late now, she thinks, "there would be no address to mail a letter to him now." She has blamed him for all the upheaval and unhappiness in her life, but now she starts to ask herself if he was really to blame, or was someone else? If so, who? With these questions in mind, she was all of a sudden, "overâ€" whelmed by the impulse to write something." This book is the result of that impulse, to tell her story, and the story of her mother and grandmother, in that "ancient land on the other side of the globe." The story Peace tells is riveting. It is the story of her mother, Qin; of her grandmother, Laoloa, and of herself, in China, from just before the Cultural Revolution, through to the first few years after Mao‘s death: decades of political and social upheaval. At the beginning of Yan Li‘s book, dediâ€" . Eeeeeeeaaeeaaaean cated "To the Women of China," the narrator, Peace, receives a letter telling her about her father‘s death. All she has of his are a few books, "the only things he left to the world, books he had composed with blood and tears." Since I began doing this column, many surprising books have who foumd tyranny of any kind hard to bear. The old regime found their way to me. This past week, two unexpectedâ€"and where women were traded in marriage was dreadful for her wonderfulâ€"books came across my desk: Daughters of the Red grandmother, who chafed under the rule of her parents, her husâ€" Land, a novel, by Yan Li and A Partisan‘s Memoir; Woman of band, and her motherâ€"inâ€"law. the Holocaust, by Faye Schuiman. These Qin, Peace‘s mother, embraced the new authors both live in Waterloo. e 4 order which Mao brought because it The first, and most obvious courage as | Jud[m m“ler intended to free women from those overâ€" look at these two books, is the very writing lords. It becomes clear in Peace‘s account of them. Both these women took their that any social order is difficult for defiant, courage in their hands to put these stories inquiring women. Petty people will always down on paper. find a wav to assert nower over ntherc: Several kinds of courage The women of Peace‘s family were alert, intelligent people () Little Caesars Pizza A Customer of Jumbo Video at Zellers Plaza Will Win the Grand Prize on Christmas Eve! Keelp Co Speaaured by ... gibson TV JUMBO VIDEO in Waterioo is proud to hold its Great Christmas Giveaway Contest, with food donations going to the Waterloo Reglonal Foodbank! Your kind donation will entitle you to special rates on movie rentals and purchases ... AND GET YOU CHANCES TO WIN OUR GRAND PRIZE ... a fantastic SONY Home Theatre System! So what the heck are you waiting for? Get down to JUMBO VIDEO TODAY ... and don‘t forget to bring some food! SURFERS! Check our page! http//www.w7.com Judith Miller Rd & Weber ST. * ipin comen ceik n Sive December 24, 1995) <@@Â¥* I thank Yan Li for the courage which went into the writing of this book. As Peace herself says, "Books remain." it is especially pleasing to know that this book was written in Waterloo. I thought I was going to write about these two books together, but it seems I am not going to do that. Each one deserves and has taken its own space. Next week: A Partisan‘s Memoir. Judith Miller is Associate Professor of English at Renison College. There is not an ounce of selfâ€"pity in the story Peace tellsâ€"or in her own language. The book is written in a matterâ€"ofâ€"fact way. All women will recognize its way of speaking. It is the language women drop into when life is difficult. Emotion and sentiment would overwhelm. Qin, Peace‘s mother, embraced the new . t order which Mao brought because it | Judm] mIIIg" intended to free women from those overâ€" lords. It becomes clear in Peace‘s account NMT U that any social order is difficult for defiant, 1 [ H “ I ” IJ inquiring women. Petty people will always find a way to assert power over others. Qin "was a controversial girl" who asked questions and said what she thought. During the time of the Red Guard, she was humiliated and her life was all but destroyed. Peace herself never quite fit into her society. She thought for herself and asked embarrassing questions. What was worse, she asked her questions aloud. I recognize that these three woman represent many other women in China during these years, unknown and unnamed. "Controversial" women are always a problem. Yan Li has told all their stories through the lives of these three particular people. Their courage is remarkable. All three women find themselves in extraordinary circumstances. They have to make decisions with litâ€" tle or no information, with no sense of what the outcomes will be. They have to survive, but they also have to protect children, the elderly, the sick and one another. They face physical danger, public humiliation, gossip, prison, dislacation and famine. They are often afraid. They are often hungry. 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