Becoming Madame Mao

First UK edition. 8vo. 339 pp. Black cloth, lettered in gilt to spine; red endpapers. References to rear. Dust jacket design by Michaela Sullivan. Scarcer than the U.S. edition.

Author's third book and second novel. A fictionalized account of the ambitious, vindictive and cruel Madame Mao, last wife of Chairman Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung). The author makes judicious use of historical facts and her own experiences as a young recruit for Madame Mao's Shanghai film studio, straight from a Chinese labour collective.

"This is an audacious but balanced narrative of a mean-spirited woman's life, caught in desire, ambition, and political intrigues. A remarkable accomplishment." –Ha Jin, author of Waiting