With Wild Ginger, Anchee Min has created a "poetic . . . captivating, and tragic" (Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel) love story set against the backdrop of the horrors of Maoism. Returning to the devastating experience of the Cultural Revolution that defined her youth, as she did in her previous books, Min opens the fictional door to "a world that is at once terrible and compelling" (Kirkus Reviews). Wild Ginger is only in elementary school when she is singled out by the Red Guards for her "foreign-colored eyes." Her classmate Maple is also a target of persecution. The novel chronicles these two girls' maturing in Shanghai in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when Chairman Mao ruled absolutely and his followers took up arms in his name. Wild Ginger grows up to become a model Maoist, but her romantic love for a man soon places her in an untenable position -- and ultimately in one of mortal danger. "Potent . . . chilling . . . [and written] with restraint and clarity" (Los Angeles Times), Wild Ginger offers "a vivid picture of young people in the grip of ideology [and serves as] a reminder that the passion of youth . . . can be channeled into tragic courses" (San Jose Mercury News).
