From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Holly Smith
Ning Lao T'ai-t'ai, born in the seventh year of T'ung Chih, 1867, lived a full and difficult life; she bore and buried children, worked as a maidservant, begged for food, and felt pride in her old age by sharing a home with her son and his family. A lively, driven woman who wants only to provide for her family, often without the support of her opium-addicted husband, Ning Lao wonders how life would have been different with a formal education: "I might have been somebody in the world." When her husband sells their kitchenware, she gets it back; when he sells their daughters, she gets them back, then must give one up because she's unable to feed her. As a maidservant she often works for Christian missionaries but refuses to accept their religion. Her tongue costs her many positions: told she should thank God for her strong arms and legs, she responds that she had them before she'd ever heard of God. She describes the importance of neighbors and self-reliance in the life of a peasant, stating bluntly: "I am not afraid of hard work but I am afraid of hunger..." Her life is recorded in conversations with Ida Pruitt over a two-year period. Unfortunately, the book ends in 1938 with the Japanese occupation of Peking, and the rest of Ning Lao's life is unknown. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.