The dictator’s black hand hadmade China a birdcage wrapped in red flags."--From "Balloons

A wide-brimmed spinster’s hat had been thrown up in the sky. It was gradually falling into the deep ocean.

The word spinster, mixed with stifled laughter from the living room, picked her ear like a needle. Will I ever escape the culture of my faraway country? she wondered.

The dictator’s black hand hadmade China a birdcage wrapped in red flags.--From "Balloons

Reading literary works enlightened and sheltered me; now I'm paying back by writing.--"My Confession

Dare I ask Mao and his Communist Party?I fear my throat will be cut into two pieces.In the name of revolution, for thought crimes,Such questions can turn me to ashes.

During Mao’s era, the Chinese people were absolutely controlled by the Communist Party that decided food and accommodation, education and employment, what to think and say, and what to read and write about. ”--Interview with Zoë S. Roy, author of Spinster Kang