Book Review: Message From an Unknown Chinese Mother: Stories of Loss and Love

Xue Xinran, who writes under the pen name Xinran, used letters written to her by adoptive families of Chinese children as part of the basis for her new book.

“The book profiles 10 diverse women—educated urban dwellers, rural peasants, midwives, orphanage officials. The extreme variations in their circumstances is revealing in itself: no neat narrative exists to explain the off-loading or routine murder of Chinese girls. But these gut-wrenching, often perplexing stories do make clear that it’s simplistic to blame the one-child-per-family rule imposed 32 years ago to slow China’s population growth.”

Western Adoptions Chinese Mothers Pain
[Macleans 3/11/11 by Anne Kingston]

REFORM Puzzle Piece