Weekend Book Review: A Heart For Freedom

I am not a history buff in the least. In fact, during my school years, I found history class boring and dry. However, through homeschooling my children, my interest in history (both world and national) has been ignited.

So when I started this book, A Heart for Freedom: The Remarkable Journey of a Young Dissident, Her Daring Escape, and Her Quest to Free China's Daughters, I really had no idea of anything surrounding the protest Chai Ling led at Tiananmen Square. In fact, it was the first time I had even heard of Tiananmen Square.

But Chai Ling brought history alive in this beautiful, gripping memoir. Starting at her childhood days, living in a remote fishing village in China, Chai Ling takes us on a journey through her years as a young woman growing up in Communist China.

By sharing some very raw, painful truths from her life, she willingly opens herself up in vulnerability to her readers which makes this book absolutely poignant.

When Chai Ling found herself leading this great uprise, she had no idea that it would eventually result in a bloody massacre on part of the Chinese government and military. Forced to live the life of a fugitive, Chai Ling went underground until she could escape to America. But even in America, she found her past catching up to her present.

Chai Ling takes the reader through her journey of no religion to Buddhism and eventually to Christianity. I'm always fascinated by how God just grabs a hold of a soul like no person or idea can, and when He's got a hold, there's no denying Him.

I absolutely loved this book. Her words, her spirit, grabbed a hold of me and pulled me in to the pages. It was one of those books that were very difficult to put down.

And Chai Ling truly inspired me. Although she still remains on China's "Most Wanted List" and cannot return to China, Chai Ling has dedicated much of her time and money to putting an end to China's one-child policy and forced abortions. She has founded an organization by the name of "All Girls Allowed" to make others aware of the brutally painful consequences that the one-child policy and the forced abortions result in.

Great book. Period. I truly admire Mrs. Ling's willingness to put herself all out there for the world to see. Very inspirational. I would love to meet her and tell her how much her book touched me, and thank her for being so real in her writing.