The Long March Home

May 30, 2013 Lisa Johnson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Title: The Long March Home
Author: Zoe S. Roy
Pages: 270
Year: 2011
Publisher: Inanna Publications and Education Inc.
Zoe Roy has written a very poignant novel with The Long March Home. Set during the Cultural Revolution in China for the most part, this story is very realistic and thought-provoking. “It was so easy during this time to be misunderstood, and then accused,” thinks one of the main characters, Meihua. The author herself lived under the late Mao Zedong’s rule and therefore has a lot of ex...more Title: The Long March Home
Author: Zoe S. Roy
Pages: 270
Year: 2011
Publisher: Inanna Publications and Education Inc.
Zoe Roy has written a very poignant novel with The Long March Home. Set during the Cultural Revolution in China for the most part, this story is very realistic and thought-provoking. “It was so easy during this time to be misunderstood, and then accused,” thinks one of the main characters, Meihua. The author herself lived under the late Mao Zedong’s rule and therefore has a lot of experience with this subject matter.
Meihua Wei is a half-American, half-Chinese, art teacher who has been living in China for over 15 years. She is married to a Chinese man, and their children have been born in China. Due to her heritage, she has always been viewed as suspicious, but during the Red Terror this has never been truer. She is falsely accused, publically humiliated and condemned, then sent to prison for “reformation” with a sentence of 13 years. She did absolutely nothing wrong and was a loyal Communist; yet, because of her parentage that was enough to convict her. Also, denouncing teachers, doctors and other learned professions was another way to implement Mao’s Cultural Revolution. She leaves her two youngest children in the care of her servant as her husband lives and works in a labor camp. He sends money, but he can’t live with his family and take care of them. The family’s loyal servant, Yao, raises these two children as her own without pay. The fear and terror the author evokes as these poor people live their lives, having to watch their every action and word is stunning. They never know who might be watching and waiting to denounce them.
Yezi has grown up while her mother has been imprisoned and is a delightful girl. She is smart, brave and curious. Her mother gets released early from prison and shortly thereafter they receive a letter from Meihua’s American mother, wanting to re-establish contact. She has been searching for them for several years. Eventually, Mao dies and the new leader begins to open up relations between nations. Meihua’s mother is able to finally meet Yezi. Yezi wants to explore her heritage and soon a search is underway for Meihua’s father, whom she has never met. How will they ever find him?
Within this story, there is a revolution within a revolution as “…the people, who put me behind bars, are using the Cultural Revolution to disrupt Mao’s authority and destroy China.” This is voiced by a prisoner celled with Meihua. Also, the story of family ties, survival, sacrifice for others and love are depicted. I found this book to be very interesting, informative and well-written.
My rating is 4 stars.
Note: I received a complimentary copy for an honest review of this book. The opinions shared in this review are solely my responsibility. Other reviews can be read at http://seekingwithallyurheart.blogspo... . Also follow me on Twitter @lcjohnson1988, FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/lisa.johnson...
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Nov 17, 2012 Shonna Froebel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: canadian

This book follows Meihua, a young mother in China and her daughter Yezi. Meihua is the daughter of an American missionary woman and a Chinese man. She was born in the United States, but came to China to try to find her father. Instead she met and married Lon, and began a family. With the Cultural Revolution, Lon has been sent to the mines, and Meihua is struggling to keep a low profile and support her family with the help of a servant, Yao. When Meihua is denounced and sent to labour camp, Yao s...more

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Nov 09, 2012 Marion Marchetto rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: china, cultural-revolution, chairman-mao, communism

When teacher Meihua Wei is torn away from her newborn daughter and sent to a labor camp for seven years, she fears that she will never see her family again. Her crime? In the eyes of Communist China she is condemned as an 'anti-revolutionary' simply because her mother is an American. As Meihua labors away in the squalid conditions of the camp, we follow the life of her daughter Yezi as she grows.

Yezi and her brother Sang are left in the care of Yao, a sixty-year old woman who worked for Meihua a...more

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Jul 14, 2012 Ling Zhang added it

The first time I laid my eyes on The Long March Home, a new novel by Zoe Roy, I thought it was about some sort of revolutionary movement in Tibet, as the cover bears the image of two women, dressed in Tibetan-style clothing, being denounced in public with a few indignant fists thrusting around them. As I read on, I started to realise that this novel has nothing to do with either Tibet or Tibetans, and the choice of the cover is simply a mistake by the designer who probably has limited knowledge...more The first time I laid my eyes on The Long March Home, a new novel by Zoe Roy, I thought it was about some sort of revolutionary movement in Tibet, as the cover bears the image of two women, dressed in Tibetan-style clothing, being denounced in public with a few indignant fists thrusting around them. As I read on, I started to realise that this novel has nothing to do with either Tibet or Tibetans, and the choice of the cover is simply a mistake by the designer who probably has limited knowledge of China’s political geography.

While the cover is both baffling and misleading, the book itself is a good read. Covering a span of six decades, The Long March Home is a saga of three generations of women striving to find their roots and happiness. Agnes, a passionate young Canadian girl, goes to China in 1920’s as a missionary, only to find herself in love with a young Chinese tutor. They are sadly separated for sixty years by war and by rigid rules of society. Two decades later, in 1940’s, their daughter Mayflora, or Meihua, another social idealist, goes to China in search of the father she has never met. Much like Agnes, Meihua finds herself in love with a man who brings her joy and suffering at the same time. Caught up in a cobweb of unforeseeable events, Maihua stays in China while her mother Agnes awaits her letters that takes three decades to arrive. Then in 1980’s, Yezi, Meihua’s young daughter in China, follows their footsteps to leave home in search of her identity and true meaning of happiness.

Through the closely knit story line swinging back and forth between China, Canada and USA, The Long March Home presents the readers with a possibility of peeling through the multiple layers of meaning to find the core message that Roy intends to deliver. It’s a story about dream and disappointment. Agnes’ dream of being together with the man she loves is cruelly shattered by a series of events beyond her control; Meihua’s dream of finding her father and pursuing her passion for painting is not given an opportunity to unfold and flourish; young Yezi is finally given a chance, yet the cost is unbearably heavy – she has to leave behind a long train of people and memories that has become an inherent part of her.

The Long March Home is also a vivid account of the Cultural Revolution, the darkest period in modern Chinese history (1966-1976) that uproots all the fundamental social rules and tears any forms of human relationship to shreds. The Revolution awakens all the demons lying dormant in people, stretching the concept of evil and cruelty to its very limits. Then, and only then, the great kindness, through characters like Yao, starts to shine, penetrating thick layers of darkness, giving birth to a thin hope of humanity.

A great portion of The Long March Home is set in China, yet it does not have to be read as a book on China only, as it has successfully addressed many issues of universal relevance. It’s a gripping tale of hardship, endurance and triumph, despite author’s occasional intrusive presence that tends to hamper the readers’ efforts to communicate directly with the characters.

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Jul 04, 2012 Nicola rated it 4 of 5 stars

Reason for Reading: I love books set in 20th century China and the Cultural Revolution is of particular interest to me.

First, I'd like to say I don't like the publisher's summary of this book. The summary tells the story backwards and gives away way too much information; it's almost as if it were written by someone who only read the last half (or third) of the book. What the book *is* about is Meihua, a woman living China, her heritage is that of an American mother and Chinese father. She knows...more Reason for Reading: I love books set in 20th century China and the Cultural Revolution is of particular interest to me.

First, I'd like to say I don't like the publisher's summary of this book. The summary tells the story backwards and gives away way too much information; it's almost as if it were written by someone who only read the last half (or third) of the book. What the book *is* about is Meihua, a woman living China, her heritage is that of an American mother and Chinese father. She knows nothing of her father. We know she came to China in her early twenties fell in love with a Chinese man and stayed their for the remainder of her life. As she finds out about her third pregnancy Mao's Cultural Revolution is well underway. The two child policy is introduced, both she and her husband are teachers and thus in need of re-education. Her husband is sent to a work camp for many years, after she gives birth Meihua is sentenced to prison for thirteen years for being an anti-revolutionary because she is half-American. Her children are subsequently raised by their housekeeper/cook who is more like a member of the family.

For more than half of the book we experience the Cultural Revolution through the eyes of Meihua as she struggles to survive in a prison labour camp for the simple crime of her parentage; also through the eyes of her children who grow up without their parents for around 7 years. We see how this scary regime affected both the once middle-class and the peasant class people in such a manner that everyone was controlled by the government and the whims of a charismatic leader. The story is well-written and I enjoyed the author's voice. This is a slow novel, without much fast action, yet it has its series of major plot points. Having lived through the Cultural Revolution herself the now Canadian resident author shows us how ordinary people, villagers, peasants, teachers and a doctor's family are affected by this system that no longer respects education or personal success, yet still keeps the weak and poor just as bad off as they ever have been.
Towards the three-quarter mark the story progresses into a family generational saga as Mao dies and the new leader opens relations with the West. Mei's mother comes to China to visit for the first time and Mei's daughter Yezi becomes interested in the American/Chinese history of the family, searching out clues and answers to why the family is split between America and China and whatever became of her mother's father, whom Mei herself never met. A lovely story that will appeal to women readers who like multigenerational stories, historical tales of China and those who want to explore the real evils of Communism and especially the consequences of an all powerful charismatic leader such as Mao Zedong. (less)

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May 11, 2012 Rosalind Song rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: interracial-marriage, multigenerational-novel, maoist, immigrant, cross-culture

The Long March Home portrays the story of three generations of the women. Agnes, Yezi's grandmother, went to China in the 1920s as a Canadian missionary nurse and fell in love with a Chinese doctor, but was sent back to Canada due to anti-western sentiment. Meihua, Yezi's mother, was born and raised in the U.S. and travelled to China attempting to find her biological father. She ended up marrying a Chinese man and settled down in China as an art teacher. During the Cultural Revolution Meihua was...more The Long March Home portrays the story of three generations of the women. Agnes, Yezi's grandmother, went to China in the 1920s as a Canadian missionary nurse and fell in love with a Chinese doctor, but was sent back to Canada due to anti-western sentiment. Meihua, Yezi's mother, was born and raised in the U.S. and travelled to China attempting to find her biological father. She ended up marrying a Chinese man and settled down in China as an art teacher. During the Cultural Revolution Meihua was put behind bars as an American spy suspect and anti-revolutionary. Yezi, Meihua's daughter, finally had a chance to meet her foreign grandmother Agnes after Meihua was released. Eager to learn more about her American ancestry, Yezi decided to join Agnes in Boston and had a different experience encountering with the North American culture.

The author unveils the Cultural Revolution through vivid events. I have never witnessed the Cultural Revolution; however, the novel enables me to gain a more realistic view at and more profound understanding of the turbulent era. It was a period of dark and frightening time that people could not trust anyone because it was so easy to be misunderstood and accused by neighbours, friends and even family members and labelled as political criminal. Although I was not born at that time hence I did not experience the Cultural Revolution, through reading this novel I feel to some extent I am able to relive that calamitous era in the Chinese history.

The last section of the novel focuses on Yezi's life in Boston with Agnes. Yezi lived in both China and the U.S, therefore was influenced by both of the cultures. Readers who have cross-cultural experiences can certainly relate to Yezi by seeing her adapt to the new life and new culture. By all means, the novel would strike a chord with those who went through the Cultural Revolution and who have similar cross-cultural experiences.

In addition, my favorite part of this novel is the old secret of Agnes, which was revealed in her diaries, as well as how the biological father of Meihua was found through all the clues being gathered. The suspense throughout the novel surely raised my curiosity and induced me to continue to read in order to uncover the ending. The excitement accompanied me through my reading, which was undoubtedly worthwhile. (less)

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Mar 31, 2012 Lynne rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a lovely first novel by Zoe S Roy. The beginning part of the story, outlines the political events happening in China in the 60’s and 70’s during China’s many cultural/class struggles. Paralleling the story of China’s political history, is the story of Zezi and her family whose lives are profoundly affected by the detention of her parents - her mother imprisoned for a number of years and her father a worker at an enforced labour camp. The children of the family are protected by their fait...more

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Feb 18, 2012 Carol rated it 5 of 5 stars

I liked this book because it was like a picture of the times. I could feel the fear and frustration of the people during the Cultural Revolution. Being born in Canada it is hard to believe how the Chinese people endured the suffering. I myself at the time was a young mother with three children and was not aware of the Cultural Revolution or of Mao as the monster he was. This book shows how the revolution affected a family and the losses they endured. The mother Meihua was American born and as a...more

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Dec 05, 2011 Marlene Ritchie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Readers of The Long March Home by Zoe S. Roy discover that they are journeying through the lives of three generations of women with ties to China, the U.S. and Canada in search of a secure place for their families to call home. The story begins in China during Chairman Mao Zedong’s period when cleansing the culture meant that the educated were sent far away to do manual labour, and anyone with a foreign connection was suspected of plotting against the Chinese regime. First the father must leave...more Readers of The Long March Home by Zoe S. Roy discover that they are journeying through the lives of three generations of women with ties to China, the U.S. and Canada in search of a secure place for their families to call home. The story begins in China during Chairman Mao Zedong’s period when cleansing the culture meant that the educated were sent far away to do manual labour, and anyone with a foreign connection was suspected of plotting against the Chinese regime. First the father must leave his family to work in the mines, and then the mother is interned because she was born in the United States, the love child of a Canadian missionary and a Chinese doctor. What will become of their two sons and newborn daughter? Much of the story focuses on Yezi (Leaf), this little girl growing up. The author has beautifully portrayed the child’s bewilderment because she can’t understand why her parents have left, and yet children are resilient and readers are amused as this child and her best friend find joys in raising silk worms, looking for English words and building a secret fort while she is cared for by a trusted maid. Later in the story we see this little girl in playful discovery with her American chum. Every chapter draws us on though this family’s struggle to survive and to hold fast to faith in each other as they face denunciation by their peers and even from their older son. The author has realistically pictured the home life as well as the dilemmas—situations similar to the many hardships I learned about when I taught in China during ‘96/’97. After Mao’s death Deng Xiaoping began to open China to Western contacts, and Yezi and her parents are reunited with the Canadian grandmother who had fled to the United States when her parents rejected her--an unmarried pregnant daughter. But there are still unfinished relationships. What has become of the older son and of the grandmother’s lover, Yezi’s grandfather? Readers follow the search to find them. The son has chosen loyalty to his cause and died renouncing his parents, however, readers rejoice when the grandfather returns to the family even though it is too late for him to see his daughter who has died. We discover that the long march was a journey home to the love within a family regardless of where they dwell. The book is an absorbing read and poignantly portrays the situations many families faced in China, the United States and Canada during those times. (less)

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Feb 06, 2013 Marilou George rated it 5 of 5 stars

Zoe S. Roy has written a stunning first novel about a family deeply immersed in the political events that transpired during The Cultural Revolution in the 1960's and 70's in China. The story effectively and poignantly details the Cultural Revolution and the demoralizing impact it had on the Chinese people.

Meihua Wei is an educated woman born in the United States married to a Chinese man. She is an art instructor at Spring University in Kunming City China. Her husband Lon, also an educator, was a...more Zoe S. Roy has written a stunning first novel about a family deeply immersed in the political events that transpired during The Cultural Revolution in the 1960's and 70's in China. The story effectively and poignantly details the Cultural Revolution and the demoralizing impact it had on the Chinese people.

Meihua Wei is an educated woman born in the United States married to a Chinese man. She is an art instructor at Spring University in Kunming City China. Her husband Lon, also an educator, was accused of anti-revolutionary activity, sent to work in a labor camp and is only allowed to visit his family once a month. They have two children and learn that they are expecting their third as they contemplate whether they should keep this unborn child. When their baby daughter Yezi is born, citizens were being highly scrutinized and Meihua is arrested for alleged crimes against China. She leaves her home and the care of her children in the capable hands of Yao who is devoted to the family and assumes the role of caretaker to the children.

We follow this family on a journey of survival and the struggles they face as they continue to move forward holding firmly to the hope that the future will bring them back together and their love will survive. We are provided with an ominous view of the tactics imposed on the people of China to condemn people who once were their neighbors and colleagues.

The realities of life during this time are forcefully brought to the surface as we follow Yezi as she grows up without her mother and is raised, protected and cherished by Yao who is determined to struggle and protect the family that she loves. They face tremendous poverty and hardship yet are strong in spirit and hope.

The characters of Yezi, Meihua and Yao are beautifully portrayed and the feelings and fears that they face are palpable as the story moves forward. All the characters in this story take an essential role and contribute to the complexity and drama. They are written with a true sense of realism and emotion that will captivate and consume you.

This outstanding story will bring you face to face with the reality of the Cultural Revolution. We are forced to engage in the lives of those that continue to struggle for survival on a daily basis as well as the privileged few who are able to enjoy all the advantages that their society has to offer no matter how unjust it is.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and encourage everyone to read it. It is a story that you will carry with you even after the last page is read. (less)

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Nov 08, 2012 Beatnik Mary rated it 4 of 5 stars

http://www.cozylittlebookjournal.com/...
With her stunning debut novel, Zoe S. Roy has proven herself a powerful voice in Canadian fiction. Spanning from China to Boston to Halifax over many decades, The Long March Home is the story of one family's experience through Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution and their struggles to define themselves as individuals and as family despite differences of culture and nationality.

Meihua, a university art professor in China, finds her loyalty to the Communist...more http://www.cozylittlebookjournal.com/...
With her stunning debut novel, Zoe S. Roy has proven herself a powerful voice in Canadian fiction. Spanning from China to Boston to Halifax over many decades, The Long March Home is the story of one family's experience through Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution and their struggles to define themselves as individuals and as family despite differences of culture and nationality.

Meihua, a university art professor in China, finds her loyalty to the Communist cause questioned when it is revealed that she is American born to an American (actually, Canadian) mother. Her father, whom she has never met, is Chinese, as is her husband and her three children. Nonetheless, she is arrested and sent to prison for eight years on the suspicion of being "anti-revolutionary." When her husband is also arbitrarily imprisoned, it falls to their maid to raise the children and keep them safe while they await their parents' return. The youngest daughter, Yezi, spends her early years only knowing her mother from visits to prison. Eventually things change in China and Meihua is released. Her mother, Agnes, is even able to visit from Boston, meeting Yezi for the first time. Three generations of women struggle to piece together their identities. Are they Chinese? Are they 'foreign'? How would life have been different if they had never been separated from each other? And, of course, what ever happened to Meihua's Chinese father?

I said this story is about the Cultural Revolution but really it is about family. Each of the characters struggle to come to terms with the values and conditions set by the society around them but under it all is a deep longing for family connection. When Meihua is imprisoned she denies being "anti-revolutionary" but worries that if she denies it too vigorously she will be accused of criticizing the regime and it may be even longer before she sees her children. Yezi is taught at school that it is wrong to speak out against the government yet they are the ones keeping her mother in prison. She also struggles with the idea that the bourgeoisie are evil yet her grandmother is wealthy enough to buy a plane ticket to visit them and she seems so nice. Even the reasons behind Agnes' separation from Meihua and her Chinese father are entirely informed by cultural expectations at the time, but her choices (which are eventually revealed) were all made with the best interest of her daughter in mind. However the characters feel about the values they are expected to adopt, each of them wishes for more connection to the people they love.

What I love most about this book is that it is not over-written. Roy does not paint these characters in broad strokes, making them two-dimensional ideologues who are firmly planted on one side of an argument or the other. There are no sides, only conflicts and paradoxes. The author allows her characters to be conflicted without instructing her readers, "This is how you should feel about this moment. Look at this terrible injustice and be outraged!" She allows things to go unsaid between her characters and she allows things to go unwritten on the page. When Yezi asks her mother for information about Communism or America, Meihua is patient but guarded in her answers. She knows that even things said in her own home could have a way of getting her or her daughter in trouble. When Yezi, referring to her American grandmother, asks, "She's foreign?" Meihua responds only, "How can she be foreign? She's my mother." That one line could be taken as a microcosm of the the whole novel.

This novel was both moving and delicate. I cared about the characters and their stories and found myself wondering about them even after I had closed the cover. From every angle, it was hard to pin down "right" or "wrong" or "good" or "bad," only "that which tears these people away from each other" and "that which brings them together." I felt--and this is going to sound strange--I felt wiser after I read this book. (I realize that sounds hokey. I assure you that Zoe S. Roy could have expressed the same sentiment better and more concisely. And thrown in a history lesson.)

For more reviews, please visit my blog, Cozy Little Book Journal.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for writing a review, though the review did not necessarily need to be favourable, just honest. (In fact she was pretty brave to send it to me at all because if I had hated it I would have said so, and I would have published a bad review accordingly. Lucky break for her, I'd say.) I frequently read and review books for this reason, but I am always very truthful (and, I hope, fair) in my reviews. Therefore any opinions expressed are strictly my own.(less)

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May 06, 2012 Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars

An engaging story, set between China and Boston, that got me from the first page.

Warning (in case this matters to you), this book was given to me by the author so I could review it.

This book takes you through the lives of three women; grandmother, mother and daughter and centers on the events of the Cultural Revolution in China. It is a quick read but packs in a surprising depth and level of detail. I really enjoyed the flow from the mother to daughter's storyline, painting a picture with detail...more

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Apr 07, 2012 Petra rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: giveaway-wins

Lovely! The reader feels as if he/she were listening to an oral history of a family. The story is warm and heartfelt. And, although not all the memories or stories within these pages is significant to the plot, it doesn’t matter since, as in all family histories, the stories are interesting, human and add a depth of character to the story as a whole. Family plays an important role throughout this book.
The author manages to convey the fear, uncertainty and isolation of the people of Communist Ch...more

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Jan 04, 2013 Carrie Wallace rated it 4 of 5 stars

A feminist historical fiction centering on the Chinese cultural revolution (1966-1976), The Long March Home reflects the lives and longings of three generations of women who have been or will become transnational migrants. Central characters include a Canadian-American matriarch, Agnes, her American-Chinese daughter, Meihua (translated as either America-China, Mayflora, or, Mayflower), and Meihua's Chinese daughter, Yezi (meaning green leaf, symbolizing new life). Circumstances for this family p...more A feminist historical fiction centering on the Chinese cultural revolution (1966-1976), The Long March Home reflects the lives and longings of three generations of women who have been or will become transnational migrants. Central characters include a Canadian-American matriarch, Agnes, her American-Chinese daughter, Meihua (translated as either America-China, Mayflora, or, Mayflower), and Meihua's Chinese daughter, Yezi (meaning green leaf, symbolizing new life). Circumstances for this family present as ultimate injustices: As a young missionary, Agnes was forced to leave her lover in China as anti-western sentiment rose. Meihua, an art professor born in the United States, is imprisoned in 1966 for "re-education" for the crime of her higher education and place of birth; she has also never met her Chinese father. Lon, Meihua's husband, has already been forced to live and work at a mine, following his own stint in prison. Though he is occasionally allowed to leave the labor camp to visit his family, his meager prison wages must support the children in the parents' absence. The family's illiterate housekeeper, Yao, garners serious judgment from the community as she raises the two younger children for eight years in this grinding poverty: an apparently self-sacrificial act. The children suffer too as they struggle to make sense of their circumstances in the world, their family, and their own identities.

The hope of Yezi's family, Yao included, is for the child to flourish with a liberal arts education one day. Western readers won't question the premise or, certainly, find such values held by the family to be problematic. Lon was originally imprisoned for the treason of suggesting that a Party secretary should be educated in a university. At the risk of being considered heavy-handed with plot points centering around what a liberal arts education signified in Mao's Zedong's China, Roy made sure every reader will come away understanding.

The author generally makes short work of predicting American readers' sensibilities: during Agnes' visit to China (following some unforeseen circumstances) she asks her granddaughter to move to Boston and live with her. This is a historically consistent plot turn, but to make no mistake, it is one Western readers in particular will like. The book is hardly anti-China, but Roy, a Chinese-Canadian, also does not sugarcoat the oppression, fear, and insanity of Mao's regime. For example, a grieving, shocked young man whose parents were eaten by revolution-hungry villagers makes an appearance in the story. Disputed but detailed reports of widespread cannibalism during China's Cultural Revolution exist, an inconceivable reality unknown to many Americans. This sort of horrifying history is certainly what readers will find interesting, as fiction and as fact. The author is realistic about the opportunity provided by the United States: above all it is clear that Agnes is in a position to offer a life of freedom to Yezi. Realizing that the author had her own experience living in China during the "cultural revolution" should convince readers that her storytelling motive is without ulterior motive or, laughably, xenophobia; she carried the knowledge of the total reality until she could tell it.

Imagining the circumstances of Mao's regime is nearly impossible for those who have never known what it is like to live under the dictatorship of a homicidal megalomaniac. Roy takes it all on, and for readers who are listening, Roy's own deeply internalized experience of her life in China during Mao's dictatorship will be felt. At times, Roy seems to nearly romanticize the suffering of those who are provisionally "free" being unable to speak freely, but this is not to say that the dialogue has any weakness. Language has its limits, and there is much that can only be said with pauses or eye contact between her characters. Ludwig Wittgenstein would be proud of her handling of the dialogue and the narrative itself, though the intent may have been to channel Orwell more than the annals of analytic philosophy. Roy uses well-placed metaphorical imagery, usually of birds, to bring awareness of a multitude of constraints to a pique for all involved (particularly the reader).

Nor does she write her characters' thoughts to question the regime itself, though it's obvious that the adults in the story had done that years ago. Yezi is troubled by the thought that her mother may be an "anti-revolutionary". As a labor camp visit concludes, Yao tells Meihua, "Reform your thoughts well." Curious about her grandmother, after hearing that Agnes lives in the United States, Yezi asks, "Is she a foreigner?". Yezi and her friend giggle about the idea of God and repeat a curious, subversive dictum to one another in English, "God Bless You." The language of the novel is simple and completely unpretentious, but there is always a wellspring of emotion and lived experience behind the words. In a horrific display of historical realism, Roy demonstrates how some words lost their meaning and were imbued with whatever definition Mao's regime decided on. At the same time, the revolution changed what could be said (or thought) at all. The consistent focus of the narrative is the triumph of the human spirit to hope for the best and love live in the worst of circumstances--though this too could never be said. After all, this was a world in which a little girl could be castigated for having said she liked chocolate: it's not Chinese food. In such a world, there are only the perfect circumstances and luck of living under Mao's glorious leadership and wisdom--and there is the normative reality, left up to the reader.

Before the central events occur towards the close of the book, hope and happiness come in the form of a red hair ribbon on a little Yezi's birthday, a popsicle obtained with money from recycling garbage, a short visit with family at Meihua's prison camp, Yezi's cultivation of silkworms, and the love and loyalty shown to the whole family by the housekeeper and provisional parent, "Popo Yao", without whose loving kindness the children certainly would have been street orphans. This tome is as much about family than it is about freedom, though the two themes intersect and at times supersede one another.

Lengthy meanderings into simple routines of daily life serve to make the characters and their lives more complex. The often fearless and hopeful Yezi, Meihua with her quiet strength, Yao the humble but sometimes fierce protector, and Agnes, always understating the depth of her wisdom--are all revealed in simple interactions and events. This novel deserves to be read by anyone curious what that era was like in China, but ultimately, the last thirty pages pack in too much action and disrupt the temporal flow. Readers may be confused by the onslaught. Such is life; we can never decide when life stops standing still: everything may happen at once, as though the universe could sort all of our hopes out and answer them all, catapulting our lives into one chaotic twist after another along the way.

This delicately conceived and ably-written family saga is Zoe Roy's first novel. Readers of historical fiction will hope for more from this author in the future.
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Apr 25, 2012 Terry rated it 3 of 5 stars

This novel was a story set in the time of the Chinese Red Revolution. It is primarily the compelling story of Yezi, a girl born during the Red Terror, and the effect it had on her life and her family.

I am always intrigued by totalitarian systems and their impact on individuals. To what degree do citizens 'go along', how much do they struggle - internally/externally? I appreciated this book for the insight into the day-to-day life of a family suffering in varying ways at the hands of the revolut...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars

Roy begins her tale just before the birth of its protagonist, Yezi, during the Cultural Revolution in Mao’s China. From the opening page Roy establishes the omnipresent fear of tyranny, which permeates life’s every decision, be it minor (what to wear) or major (whether to keep a child, and what to name it). Step wrong and be judged harshly. Even children shout each other down in educational exercises. Yezi finds a child’s pleasures, like raising silkworms with a friend, even as her mother is imp...more

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Dec 18, 2011 Erin marked it as to-read

http://www.spdbooks.org/Producte/9781...

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Apr 16, 2013 Littlebluebottle rated it 2 of 5 stars

Compelling plot let down by mediocre quality of writing

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Mar 12, 2013 Wellington City Libraries rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: readers-choice

Excellent, moving, informative of the time.

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Jun 08, 2013 Anna Morris marked it as to-read

Apr 29, 2013 Kate Long marked it as to-read

May 19, 2013 Glenna MacDonald rated it 3 of 5 stars

Mar 08, 2013 Anna rated it 1 of 5 stars

Feb 23, 2013 Ana Maria marked it as to-read

Feb 22, 2013 Derek rated it 5 of 5 stars

Jan 28, 2013 Sunshine rated it 5 of 5 stars

Jan 06, 2013 Audrey Nurbaashita marked it as to-read

Nov 12, 2012 James marked it as to-read

Sep 26, 2012 Bianca Lakoseljac rated it 5 of 5 stars

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Jul 19, 2012 Anne rated it 4 of 5 stars

title link	preview: The Long March Home
avg rating	preview: The Long March Home Goodreads rating: 4.08 (24 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11490714-the-long-march-home?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348817517l/11490714.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11490714-the-long-march-home?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Long March Home by Zoë S. Roy[/url]

The Long March Home

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