“This book is resounding proof that nobody can understand China without reading Barbara Demick, because she unearths stories the government wants buried. She writes with such humanity and literary grace that this envelops you like a novel in which every word is true.”—Evan Osnos, National Book Award–winning author of Age of Ambition
“A family torn apart struggles to heal itself in this immersive, painterly exposé. . . . The Zeng family’s efforts to reconnect years later frame Demick’s investigation into how China’s ‘one child policy’ dovetailed with an ‘insatiable demand’ for international adoptees in America. . . . Demick relays this nightmarish tale in elegant, empathetic prose. It’s a tour de force.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“In this appalling exposé, longtime China correspondent for the Los Angeles Times and investigative journalist Demick . . . tells [vulnerable families’] stories with amazing levels of detail, nuance, empathy, and grace. She includes meticulous documentation and offers unique insights into life in rural China from the Maoist regime to the present day.”—Booklist, starred review
“Brilliantly written with passion and forensic detail, the book reads like a fast-paced whodunit, with the crime committed against a nation, a people, and girls everywhere.”—Mei Fong, author of One Child
“Award-winning journalist Barbara Demick has created an informative, sometimes heart-wrenching, sometimes uplifting story of China’s one-child policy and transnational adoption.”—Lisa See, New York Times bestselling author of Lady Tan’s Circle of Women
“Barbara Demick gets into the heads and the hearts of the people she profiles so adeptly that one sometimes forgets it is nonfiction one is reading. . . .a cinematic and heart-rending epic tale with consequences that cross continents.”—Emily Feng, author of Let Only Red Flowers Bloom
“This powerful book documents the heart-wrenching impact of China’s Family Planning policy, particularly the forced separations that fueled international adoptions . . . this immensely empathetic, moving, and thought-provoking narrative offers readers an extraordinary window into the complex dilemmas of international adoption.”—Zhuqing Li, author of Daughters of the Flower Fragrant Garden
“A bittersweet but engrossing narrative of how one family was compelled by Beijing’s ‘one-child policy’ to give an ‘unauthorized’ child up for adoption to American parents.”—Orville Schell, co-author of Wealth and Power
“An unsparing, impeccably reported yet deeply compassionate account of the devastating consequences when China’s ‘one child’ policy led to children being snatched from loving families for profit . . . a story of heartbreak, shame, separation, and irreparable damage—but, most of all, love.”—Tania Branigan, author of Red Memory
“Solid reportage and a deep knowledge of China inform this welcome study of a state-imposed social experiment gone awry.”—Kirkus Reviews
