Nien Cheng: A Prisoner in China

School Library Journal

5-8-- Two books with limited biographical information and uneven-quality full-color photos and reproductions. The accounts of the subjects' lives are oversimplified and not compelling; so much of the text is devoted to setting the scene that the drama and importance of women's achievements are undercut. Kahlo's life is particularly difficult to describe because of her interdependence with her husband, Diego Rivera. His turbulent history needs more explanation in order to make clear Kahlo's sometimes inconsistent, illogical responses to him. In turn, her own artistry is so haunting and surrealistic that it is difficult to describe, and there are very few reproductions of her paintings. Nien Cheng's life is a bit more straightforward, although the story does not begin at the beginning, but picks up with the subject as the mother of a grown woman during the cultural revolution of China. In describing her years in captivity, the book fails to convey the full horror of imprisonment and attempted brainwashing. The lack of any attention to her marriage, her girlhood, or her education is peculiar and in some ways disturbing . These women deserve better. --Ruth K. MacDonald, Quinnipiac College, Hamden, CT