Under Red Skies Audiobook By Karoline Kan cover art

Under Red Skies

Three Generations of Life, Loss, and Hope in China

 Preview

Audible Standard 30-day free trial

Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection of titles.
Yours as long as you’re a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Standard auto renews for $8.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Under Red Skies

By: Karoline Kan
Narrated by: Allison Hiroto
Try Standard free

$8.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $22.49

Buy for $22.49

A deeply personal and shocking look at how China is coming to terms with its conflicted past as it emerges into a modern, cutting-edge superpower.

Through the stories of three generations of women in her family, Karoline Kan, a former New York Times reporter based in Beijing, reveals how they navigated their way in a country beset by poverty and often-violent political unrest. As the Kans move from quiet villages to crowded towns and through the urban streets of Beijing in search of a better way of life, they are forced to confront the past and break the chains of tradition, especially those forced on women.
Raw and revealing, Karoline Kan offers gripping tales of her grandmother, who struggled to make a way for her family during the Great Famine; of her mother, who defied the One-Child Policy by giving birth to Karoline; of her cousin, a shoe factory worker scraping by on 6 yuan (88 cents) per hour; and of herself, as an ambitious millennial striving to find a job--and true love--during a time rife with bewildering social change.

Under Red Skies is an engaging eyewitness account and Karoline's quest to understand the rapidly evolving, shifting sands of China. It is the first English-language memoir from a Chinese millennial to be published in America, and a fascinating portrait of an otherwise-hidden world, written from the perspective of those who live there.
Politics & Government Biographies & Memoirs Specific Demographics Social Sciences Asia China World Freedom & Security Human Rights Asian American Studies Inspiring

Critic reviews

"A heartfelt introduction into China's recent history -- and a rare firsthand dispatch from its millennial generation....For those seeking to understand the future of China and U.S.-China relations, voices like hers are an essential part of the conversation."—The Wall Street Journal
Marie Claire, Inspiring Memoirs by Women That Are More Addictive Than Fiction!
Bustle, New Memoirs Out In Spring To Help You Welcome Warm-Weather Reading!
"Vivid and humane, Karoline Kan's memoir of coming of age in China is richly revealing and contemporary, shaped both by the pain of history and the hope for the future - at turns bold and vulnerable, like China itself."—Evan Osnos, National Book Award-winning author of Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China and New Yorker staff writer
"At first glance, Karoline Kan's Under Red Skies is a simple coming-of -age story. A young girl from a poor family grows up, goes to university, falls in love and gets her heart broken (repeatedly), and finally triumphs as a journalist. But contained within is a sharply observed critique of all that is dysfunctional in Chinese society. You can learn more about modern China through this compulsively readable memoir than from many weightier tomes."—Barbara Demick, National Book Award finalist and author of Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
"Karoline Kan's intimate portrait of growing up in contemporary China opens a new window onto a country going through lightning-fast change."—Edward Wong, International Correspondent and Former Beijing Bureau Chief, The New York Times
"Under Red Skies is a beautiful look at the struggles of China's fast-changing society. In Karoline's inspiring and heartfelt stories of her family, she voices how much Chinese people have overcome. This book should be read by people from all corners of the world if they want to know the real story of China."—Xinran, author of The Good Women of China
"Karoline Kan's Under Red Skies is an engrossing account of a rapidly changing China seen through the eyes of an imaginative, ambitious young woman... An intimate coming-of-age story, this book should be read by anyone seeking to understand the aspirations and frustrations of young people in China today."—Leta Hong Fincher, author of Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China
"A fascinating memoir about three generations of Chinese women. Whereas classics like Wild Swans end with the Cultural Revolution, Under Red Skies picks up where Jung Chang leaves off in this look at contemporary Chinese life and history as it changes before our eyes."
—Lijia Zhang, author of Socialism is Great! A Worker's Memoir of The New China
All stars
Most relevant
What a fascinating, insightful and personal tale to better understand China’s challenging controlling and hopefully, now, a little bit more freedom.

Get to know the real China better

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book is mostly for junior high school girls but also of interest to more serious readers who will find nuggets well worth the time.

A Nice Lite Story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Having lived in China 1986 to 1987, I enjoyed this insightful generational tale of China under Communism,. I especially enjoyed hearing what life is like for young people today, which is so different from when I lived there. I just wish there had been more detail about the affects of communism on their daily lives as that was especially intetesting.

Good listen and insight into China

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Brought back fond memories. Illustrates well the struggles of young people growing up in China.

Well written, well told

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I have lived in China for 10 years and this book is sooo spot on about modern China. Loved it.

Great book about modern China.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews