"It is hard not to have sympathy for the characters in Lu's life ... A reader ... cannot help but think of our luck in being born 12,000 miles from ... the murderous destruction ... that harassed a whole generation of Chinese intellectuals ...Few of us would have survived; that Lu did so ... is part of the magic that flowers in the book." -- RALPH (Review of Arts, Literature, Philosophy, & Humanities)
"Lu has written eloquent vignettes of people she knew who experienced China's recent tragic madness ... [and] helps us remember the immense cost paid by millions of individuals to satisfy the whims of a few at the top." -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch
..".a collection of 12 beautifully lyrical tales that combine memoir with fiction and reveal the suffering and redemption of one of history's most fascinating times." -- The San Diego Union-Tribune
"A soulful and beautiful addition to all the Cultural Revolution literature that has come before it and afterwards. I couldn't put it down." -- Da Chen, author of Brothers: A Novel
"Lu's voice is quiet, gentle, questioning, yet wise, even when she is recounting very dire events." -- Elizabeth Hodges, author of What the River Means