Aust, US, Canada: migrant & native experiences; Films: One Bright Moon by Andrew Kwong - Audiobook

One Bright Moon by Andrew Kwong - Audiobook | Scribd

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Written by Andrew Kwong

Narrated by Jason Chong

5/5 (5 ratings)
12 hours

Description

Winner of the 2021 Michael Crouch Award, debut category of the National Biography Award: From famine to freedom, how a young boy fled Chairman Mao's China to a new life in Australia

Andrew Kwong was only seven when he witnessed his first execution. The grim scene left him sleepless, anxious and doubtful about his commitment as a revolutionary in Mao's New China. Yet he knew if he devoted himself to the Party and its Chairman he would be saved. That's what his teacher told him.

Months later, it was his own father on trial. This time the sentence was banishment to a re-education camp, not death. It left the family tainted, despised, and with few means of survival during the terrible years of persecution and famine known as the Great Leap Forward. Even after his father returned, things remained desperate. Escape seemed the only solution, and it would be twelve-year-old Andrew who undertook the perilous journey first.

This is the poignant, resonant story of a young boy's awakening – to survival, education, fulfilment, and eventually to a new life of freedom.

PRAISE

'An incredibly powerful book' Benjamin Law

'[A] moving family saga, shot through with yearning and hard-won joy' Fiona Capp, Sydney Morning Herald

'This book will live on in your heart long after you've read the last page' Vicki Laveau-Harvie, author of The Erratics

'Heart-breaking, honest, personal, Andrew Kwong's moving journey from oppression to freedom is inspiring' Susanne Gervay, OAM, author

'A work of startling clarity ... reminiscent of Angela's Ashes' South China Morning Post Magazine

'Deeply moving ... The unique perspective of a child ... places One Bright Moon in the vicinity of Night, Elie Wiesel's pathbreaking memoir of his early life prior to and of his time in German concentration camps' Meenakshi Bharat, IIC Quarterly

'A few pages into this compelling memoir proves it was written by a master storyteller' Sharon Rundle, Australian Book Review

'A profoundly moving and spellbinding story that perfectly illuminates the terror of the times and the irrepressible yearning for something better' Carol Major, author and writing mentor

'One Bright Moon is extraordinary writing that encapsulates long-term hunger as a background feature of daily life in Mao's New China. In the foreground are images of adults and children populating the world of the pre-teenage boy with a photographic memory who would later write of them. The book is rich archival material for the study of China's social history' Mabel Lee, PhD FAHA, writer and translator

'Reading this memoir is a healing experience' Devika Brendon, author and editor
Biography & Memoir
Personal Memoirs
Political
All categories
PUBLISHER:
HarperAudio
RELEASED:
May 18, 2020
ISBN:
9781460782439
FORMAT:
Audiobook

About the author
AKAndrew Kwong

Andrew Kwong was born in Zhongshan in the Pearl River Delta, China, and educated in China, Hong Kong and Australia. He works as a family physician on the Central Coast of New South Wales. He has published many short stories and has been the recipient of numerous writing awards and fellowships. His upbringing during the Great Leap Forward was seminal. Those brutal times contrasted with the affection he received from his family and friends, which ultimately shaped his determined and hopeful spirit.
==

One Bright Moon Kindle Edition

by drew Kwong (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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Winner of the 2021 Michael Crouch Award, debut category of the National Biography Award: From famine to freedom, how a young boy fled Chairman Mao's China to a new life in Australia

Andrew Kwong was only seven when he witnessed his first execution. The grim scene left him sleepless, anxious and doubtful about his commitment as a revolutionary in Mao's New China. Yet he knew if he devoted himself to the Party and its Chairman he would be saved. That's what his teacher told him.

Months later, it was his own father on trial. This time the sentence was banishment to a re-education camp, not death. It left the family tainted, despised, and with few means of survival during the terrible years of persecution and famine known as the Great Leap Forward. Even after his father returned, things remained desperate. Escape seemed the only solution, and it would be twelve-year-old Andrew who undertook the perilous journey first.

This is the poignant, resonant story of a young boy's awakening – to survival, education, fulfilment, and eventually to a new life of freedom.

PRAISE

'An incredibly powerful book' Benjamin Law

'[A] moving family saga, shot through with yearning and hard-won joy' Fiona Capp, Sydney Morning Herald

'This book will live on in your heart long after you've read the last page' Vicki Laveau-Harvie, author of The Erratics

'Heart-breaking, honest, personal, Andrew Kwong's moving journey from oppression to freedom is inspiring' Susanne Gervay, OAM, author

'A work of startling clarity ... reminiscent of Angela's Ashes' South China Morning Post Magazine

'Deeply moving ... The unique perspective of a child ... places One Bright Moon in the vicinity of Night, Elie Wiesel's pathbreaking memoir of his early life prior to and of his time in German concentration camps' Meenakshi Bharat, IIC Quarterly

'A few pages into this compelling memoir proves it was written by a master storyteller' Sharon Rundle, Australian Book Review

'A profoundly moving and spellbinding story that perfectly illuminates the terror of the times and the irrepressible yearning for something better' Carol Major, author and writing mentor

'One Bright Moon is extraordinary writing that encapsulates long-term hunger as a background feature of daily life in Mao's New China. In the foreground are images of adults and children populating the world of the pre-teenage boy with a photographic memory who would later write of them. The book is rich archival material for the study of China's social history' Mabel Lee, PhD FAHA, writer and translator

'Reading this memoir is a healing experience' Devika Brendon, author and editor

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Print length

352 pages

Language

English

Due to its large file size, this book may take longer to download

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Top reviews from Australia

Brenda

5.0 out of 5 stars Survival in real terms not television's made up survival

Reviewed in Australia on 15 October 2020

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I really enjoyed this book it was really well written each chapter leading nicely into the next.

How the family or any families survived The Great Leap Forward or maybe Backwards is beyond me. A life story well told and interesting to discover the writers survival with such amazing good humour, thankfully with a happy conclusion.

6 people found this helpful

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R Haren

4.0 out of 5 stars One Bright Moon - a very well written family history

Reviewed in Australia on 31 January 2021

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Deeply moving story of triumph over adversity from rural China (PRC) to Hong Kong then Australia with part of the family heading to Washington DC after many years of waiting and wanting. Hard working people trying to get away from oppression and starvation in Mao's China with political slogans being broadcast over loud speakers to entice conformity. A UNSW Alumni and now General Practitioner on the central coast of NSW, who could not get Australia to support bringing his mother here because of Australia's subtle extension of the White Australia Policy. Well done great read 41/2+ stars.

2 people found this helpful

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Kenneth Taylor

5.0 out of 5 stars One Bright Moon is a factual report of life in China during the revolution.

Reviewed in Australia on 12 July 2020

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very well written with plenty of back-ground information and descriptions of conditions in China during the Communist take over of the country. Andrews life story will stay with you for a very long time and help you appreciate the life you have lived. I would recommend that that One Bright Moon be put on the reading list for all year 11, and 12 students.

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Bepe Australia

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful true story

Reviewed in Australia on 3 August 2021

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I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and learned so much about life in China during the 20th century. Andrew or Ah Mun Kong, your story is unforgettable. Thank you!

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marianrose.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read

Reviewed in Australia on 14 January 2021

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An account of the life of a child growing up under the rule of Mao Tse Tung's Great Leap Forward into Communism. The horrors of life at that time, and the fight to escape

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Christine Stewart

4.0 out of 5 stars Escaping the Chinese Communist Party

Reviewed in Australia on 12 June 2021

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This book fascinated me for its description of an intelligent Chinese family’s ordeal under the Chinese Communist Party and how resilience, having goals and hard work can overcome extreme obstacles.

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Richard

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous, Insightfull, Inspiring

Reviewed in Australia on 27 September 2021

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A learning experience to be savoured and also enjoyed of how to live life and contribute. Read some of the other reviews they are all true.

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Marilyn M.

4.0 out of 5 stars Courage

Reviewed in Australia on 26 February 2021

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An endearing tale of grit and determination, and an interesting look behind the scenes during China’s dark years of revolution.

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Amazon Customer

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a page turner

Reviewed in Canada on 26 August 2020

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The author is a great story teller. As someone with some familiarity with the Cultural Revolution, his stories really hit home.

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Momo

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, my story is eerie similar.

Reviewed in the United States on 29 June 2020

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This is a wonderful book to read in many ways. It is a fascinating story of a young boy who was almost brain-washed to be a red guard in the Chinese communitst party, but through an endless twists of events and human drama one would see only in a movie, became a successful doctor in Australia some 20 years later. The journey of the author is a perfect example of why hardwork, perservenceand determination will always pay off in the end. The book is more than a memoir of a struggling young boy. In the background, it paints a gruesome picture of how difficult life was in China during the Mao era. I know the picture is honest and genuine because I also have first hand experience of growing up in the early Mao era. Like Kwong (the author), I have vivid memories of being hungry all the time. I watched with legs shaking when people, some of them from the same village, were tied behind their back and forced to march in procession to be cursed and assulted. I also remembered how I fell asleep on my mother's lap while she was attending the nightly re-education meetings with other villagers. The worst memory of all, my father was classified as a "bad element". He was also sentenced to labor camp in Heilongjiang and my poor mother had to take the full load of raising two little kids in a disgraced setting. These and other memories are so accurately and skillfully depicted in the book, I almost felt that Kwong is actrually telling my story. Someday, some of my children and grandchildren may ask what my childhood was like, this will be a perfect book for them to read.

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7 people found this helpful

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katrig

5.0 out of 5 stars Profoundly Moving And Spellbinding Story

Reviewed in the United States on 24 July 2022

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Profoundly Moving And Spellbinding Story

One Bright Moon is an exceptionally well written book and a very powerful story of the life of Andrew Kwong and his family. A very Deeply moving story of how the family survive and how the whole family triumph over adversity from rural China to Hong Kong then Australia with part of the family heading to Washington DC after many years of waiting and wanting to leave China and become a family once again together.

Andrews family are hardworking people who are trying to get away from oppression and starvation in Mao's China. Each day they are subjected with political slogans being broadcast over loudspeakers to entice conformity every day. Andrew’s family are members of the intellectual class, and Andrew and his family were subject to unfair levels of scrutiny and police brutality.

Andrew discusses his painful coming of age in Chairman Mao's China and how when he was only seven, he witnessed his first execution. Andrew’s father was put on trial shortly after this and was sentenced and banishment to a re-education camp for three years. This was during the terrible years of persecution and famine known as the Great Leap Forward.

Even after his father returned, things remained desperate. Escape seemed the only solution, and it would be twelve-year-old Andrew who undertook the perilous journey first being smuggled from China to Hong Kong. Andrew writes the moving journey from oppression to freedom and the terror of the times and the irrepressible yearning for something better begins. Andrews father’s words of the value of education encourages Andrew to learn English and eventually Andrew will emigrate to Australia and become a doctor and open his own General Practitioner on the central coast of NSW. Eventually both of Andrews parents and siblings escape China to all be reunited eventually in the United States.

A life story which is well told and is an extremely interesting book to discover how Andrew’s survival from such a tender age and his photographic memory has now produced such a profoundly moving and spellbinding story. A very well written book and I truly recommend this book for readers who enjoy nonfiction.

I am part of the ARC group for Wildblue Press and BookSirens and I am leaving this review voluntarily

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Diana

5.0 out of 5 stars Personal history of one who suffered through the horrors of Communism.

Reviewed in the United States on 8 July 2021

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This should be a mandatory read for American students, or anyone who thinks Communism is good. This author and his family lived through the horrors of Communism. Mao was no different than Stalin or Hitler. Highly recommend!!!

One person found this helpful

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Aust, US, Canada: migrant & native experiences; Films

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Thursday, September 8, 2022

One Bright Moon by Andrew Kwong - Audiobook | Scribd

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