Little Sister: Searching for the Shadow World of Chinese Women

by Julie Checkoway

Checkoway relives a year spent in a large, industrial, politically conservative Chinese city, revealing the secret, traditional bonding of its women; fortification against a life as oppressive as it has ever been. Little Sister penetrates this hidden world to tell stories that are touching, harrowing, and always compelling.

Genres: China, Asia, Nonfiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1996

About the author

Julie Checkoway is an author and documentary filmmaker. She graduated from Harvard College, the Iowa Writers Workshop, and the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars. She is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts individual artist grant and fellowships at writers’ colonies, including Yaddo. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Salt Lake Tribune, and Huffington Post.

Reviews

[Lori Qian]

Loved the book and read it years ago. I felt a definite kinship to the author and to the characters and places. It's one I want to read again, which is why I'm entering my review now. I'll add to it after re-reading but it definitely impacted me.

[Vali Heist]

Amazing.

[Khadijah]

I was a bit disappointed with this book. I think it's nicely written, but there's something missing. In a sense, it's a bit similar to Xinran's "Good Women of China". But for some reason, it gave me the feeling of a book of fiction, I didn't feel touched the same way I was when reading Xinran's book, though I believe both books' stories are true.

[Linda Hampton]

Beautifully written.