A Tiger's Heart
The Story of a Modern Chinese Woman
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3.3 • 3 Ratings
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- $2.99
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- $2.99
Publisher Description
This remarkable true story of a Chinese peasant girl’s unlikely rise to success is “like a suspense novel . . . Impossible to put down”(Library Journal, starred review).
Aisling Juanjuan Shen was born to illiterate peasants in a tiny farming hamlet in China’s Yangtze Delta in 1974. Pronounced useless by her parents because she wasn’t good at planting rice, she became the first person from her village ever to attend college.
After graduating with a teaching degree, the government assigned her to a remote and low-paying job that she was expected to hold for the rest of her life. But she wasn’t satisfied—and she bought her way out of her secure position and left for the special economic zones of southern China, in search of happiness and success in the business world, eventually immigrating to the United States.
In this memoir, Aisling chronicles her rise from rural poverty to a successful career, illustrating the massive economic and social changes that have taken place in China over the past several decades. Her story is emblematic of a new generation of Chinese women who are leaving the rice paddies and government jobs in order to enter the free market and determine the course of their own lives.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This unflinching, unapologetic Cinderella story from Chinese immigrant and businesswoman Shen will bring perspective and understanding to readers puzzling over the long history and rapid modernization of China. Born in China's Yangtze River Delta, a desperately poor area where a child's worth is determined by the speed with which he or she can plant rice, Shen found solace in schoolwork while dreaming of a better life. In 1991, days before her 17th birthday, Shen became the first person ever to leave her hamlet for college; as a college student, she was "one of God's superior children", guaranteed a job for life. What seems to be the answer to her prayers, however, is just the beginning of a long and troubling journey; ahead of her are challenges including a bleak period of homelessness, poor health, lice infestation, and eventual salvation via the Internet and an ambitious Amway representative. Shen's patient delivery and exquisite eye for detail provide a vivid look into modern Chinese life, but she wraps up her story much too quickly, suggesting that she has a sequel in mind.
