Fly, Wild Swans

This book is not purchasable in your country. Please select another book.
How does xigxag pricing work?

Listen to a sample

What to expect

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

THE LONG-AWAITED SEQUEL TO WILD SWANS, THE MULTI-MILLION COPY INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING SENSATION

A Book of the Year in The Times; Daily Telegraph; Financial Times and Waterstones

'A must-read … magnificent’ DAILY TELEGRAPH *****

'Beautiful and moving' ELIF SHAFAK, OBSERVER

Jung Chang’s Wild Swans was a book that defined a generation, an epic personal history of Jung, her mother and grandmother – ‘three daughters of China’. The book opens in 1909 with her grandmother’s birth – and foot-binding – when China was under the last emperor, moving through Mao Zedong’s rule, especially the Cultural Revolution during which Jung’s parents were subjected to horrendous ordeals because of their courage. It finishes in 1978 when Deng Xiaoping officially ended the Mao era and started the ‘reforms’. Jung, at that propitious juncture, became one of the first Chinese to leave Communist China for the West.

Nearly half a century on, China has risen from a decrepit and isolated state to a global power, the challenger to the United States’ dominant position in the world. Through those decades, Jung’s life has been intimately entwined with her native land. Her experiences dealing with the regime in those years were rich and revealing – especially so because all her books were (and are) banned.

Fly, Wild Swans is the follow-up to Wild Swans and brings the story of Jung’s family – along with that of China – up to date. The book is in many ways Jung’s love letter to her mother. It is inevitably also about her grandmother and father, both of whom died tragically in the Cultural Revolution but are often recalled in this book. In fact, the past is never far away in Jung’s subsequent life. It has shaped her, and moulded the present China, and what’s more, it promises to herald the future.

China is now at another watershed moment with the era of Chairman Xi Jinping greatly affecting the lives of Jung and her mother. Fly, Wild Swans is Jung’s heartfelt response to that experience, and a book filled with drama, love, curiosity and incredible history – both personal and global. Ultimately uplifting, told in Jung’s clear, honest and compelling voice, it is memoir writing at its best.

'Profoundly revealing as a portrait both of a family and of the deeper traumas that lie at the heart of modern China' RORY STEWART

'Another wonder book from Jung Chang…I am quite blown away by it' LADY ANTONIA FRASER

Critics Review

n

n A Best Book of the Year in The Times; Daily Telegraph; Financial Times and Waterstonesn

n

‘BEAUTIFUL AND MOVING… Braiding her own story with that of her mother's, Chang skilfully sheds light on the transformation that the nation as a whole has gone through. [She] never shies away from addressing the problems of the regime while at the same time expressing her love for the culture and the people. She displays an extraordinary courage, even at the expense of personal risk or risk to her family. Almost half a century on, writing with unflinching determination once again, Chang has published a sequel to Wild Swans, but one that reads perfectly well on its own'

n

n ELIF SHAFAK, OBSERVERn

n

‘No 1990s bookshelf looked complete without Jung Chang’s Wild Swans. This magnificent sequel picks up the thread. It’s the story of how Chang makes a life as a writer in the West, and how China then responds to her success. SUPERB'

n

n HELEN BROWN, DAILY TELEGRAPHn

n

‘Few can match Chang’s ability to bring Chinese history and politics to life through deeply felt personal narrative, and few have shaped western understanding of China as broadly … this story of suffering and success has the air of a closing chapter, a reckoning with both her achievements and the cost of the path she chose’

n

n n GUARDIAN n n

n

‘Chang’s use of personal and intimate experience to make unfathomable political events accessible works as triumphantly today as it did 34 years ago when Wild Swans burst on to the scene'

n

n BOOK OF THE WEEK, SUNDAY TIMES n

n

'Readers cherish Chang’s books for offering glimpses of a vast and opaque nation. Fly, Wild Swans again demonstrates Chang’s ability to explore subject matter of significant weight in prose that is a pleasure to read’

n

n n I PAPERn n

n

‘Packed with poignant snapshots of family history and juicy episodes of literary life under state scrutiny … the follow-up to her 1991 bestseller is both a tribute to her uncrushable mother and a powerful portrait of censorship and shifting attitudes in Xi’s China’

n

n n FINANCIAL TIMESn n

n

More from the same

Author

Narrator

About xigxag

Experience the best audiobooks with xigxag, an innovative and user-friendly audiobook platform designed for seamless discovery, purchase, and enjoyment of your favorite titles. Our flexible pricing model offers bestselling audiobooks for less, providing affordable prices and the best audiobook deals without requiring a subscription. Perfect for gifting, xigxag also features convenient audiobook gift cards and in-app audiobook gifting options.

 

Beyond the listening experience, xigxag stands as an exciting alternative to big tech, embodying a strong commitment to sustainability and ethical practices. As the only B Corp certified UK audiobook service, we ensure a guilt-free listening experience from a leader in audiobook innovation.

 

Effortlessly search audiobooks, access honest audiobook reviews that evaluate both the content and narration, and easily discover hidden gems. Whether you prefer to download or stream top audiobook titles, xigxag provides the best possible listening experience anytime, anywhere, on the UK’s best independent audiobook app. Discover the future of audiobooks today.