Product Description

Anhua Gao's parents were hailed as revolutionary heroes. In her early years she knew love and support and grew up in a privileged world. But when they both tragically died, all she was left with was her parent's fading reputation to guide her through the horrors of 20th century China. This is the story of how Anhua first struggled with and then against the ideological machine of Red China. It is a story of pain and horror, turmoil and tragedy. But most of all it is the story of a woman who found courage, hope and humour and who, against unbelievable odds, survived.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #79805 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-26
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 398 pages

Review
'A candid humility and patient lovingness that regularly snatched at this reader's heart' Independent

About the Author
Anhua Gao was born in 1949 in Shandong, Nanjing Province and moved to England after a lifetime of tremendous hardship in December 1994. This is her first book. She now lives in Folkestone, Kent.

Customer Reviews

Please read this book - it's a unique treasure!
Having read somewhere on this page something to the effect that "To the Edge of the Sky" will be out of print, I want to urge anyone who has found this book here on Amazon out of an interest for China, to read it. Please do. It may not be the best-known biography or memoir on China, but it deserves to be read and besides, it is the best book on the subject I have read (I've got a very intense interest in China and its history).

You will find this book to be the most amazing story of a young woman's struggle for freedom under a cruel leadership and in a society which was dangerous for anyone who was assumed an intellectual or a rebel - call it whatever you like. It's absolutely heart-renching, a real page-turner, a book that is sure to make you laugh and cry. So if you're interested in China, don't miss this book. Up to this day, it's my favorite and I adore Anhua Gao to have emerged from a troubled and most difficult life to find true happiness. She doesn't only write about being Chinese, but also, simply, about being a woman. A wonderful, wonderful book!

One of the best of its kind.
I have read quite a few biographies and novels set in China during the last century. Many women have written about their experiences in such volatile and changing times and obviously some are better told than others. This, for me, is one of the better ones. Gao's parents were committed Communists who had a high rank in the party. Their status helped protect her after their death, when the Communist regime failed its people and then persecuted them. Gao's tale is told chronologically and catalogues many of the events and their affects on the people in China generally, as well as direct effects on herself and family friends. For a moving, yet ultimately uplifting, version of what it was like for a young woman in China then this very well written book is one to go for.

I don't read as much as I would like these days, but this is one of only a few books I have rated 5 stars and definitely one of the best books I have read in 2003.

Absolutely wonderful
Anhua, the daughter of two revolutionary martyrs, tells us the story of her experiences growing up in communist China and experiencing Maos descent into madness. Along the way, we are introduced to some of the incredible individuals that have crossed her path and thus, we are made aware of the bravery of the people of China during the period. This story tells of love, suffering, loss, pain, fear, pride, winning and losing, finding ones self. It tells of humanity.

Not only is this book incredibly informative, but its throughly entertaining. No autobiography has grasped me to the extent that this has acheived. Anhua tells her story in such a way that it is hard not to understand her expereinces. Obviously, we can never truly feel the horrors of such periods as the cultural revolution but this book takes us one step closer. Ultimately, we are given hope. If any book could save lifes, its this one.