THE WOMAN BACK FROM MOSCOW

Even with the large number of Chinese and Russian place and character names, listeners will be rewarded by Catherine Ho's performance of this fascinating historical novel. Sun "Yomei" Weishi (1921-1968), adoptive daughter of Zhou Enlai, is selected to leave China to study acting in Moscow. Ho delivers Yomei's vivid accounts of political upheaval, harsh conditions, and her engrossing theater studies. Confronted with free love and bed-hopping among powerful Russian and Chinese men and young Chinese expats, Yomei remains an innocent. As she joins forces with Chinese Nationalists to fight Japanese invaders during WWII and later finds her career as China's first female theater director derailed due to the Cultural Revolution, Yomei emerges as a memorable woman, and Ho's narration keeps the audiobook's 22 hours alive and fresh. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2024]