The Same Moon

A Beautiful Woman’s Memories Relived….., 5 stars

Pearl’s memories from China to UK and back and then back again placed me in her pocket with not only a glimpse of the scenery, scents and tastes of the foods, but also I felt her pulse which rose with the passions first felt as a very young woman and when the yearning for more became something as much taken as given as she rose in her education, knowledge of mankind and wisdom of what and who should be honored in her memory.

Junying Kirk is a gifted writer whom I hope someday to meet personally.

I have read only two books on Chinese culture, the first being an autobiography and this being a novel. This rings true to the autobiography in every way and then some. I followed Pearl Zhang through every step of her journey to self actualization with bated breath and high hopes for her goals to be realized. She is a strong yet sensitive woman who knows basically what she wants to do with her life as far as a career goes. Other of life’s events happen along the way, including a marriage and a child. This is a story that gets your attention immediately and keeps it. I really enjoyed the format of a memoir, it was easy to read and flowed smoothly all the way through. I am looking forward to more works by this author. I received this free as an ebook from the author for an honest review.

The best book I read this year, 5 Stars By Julie Posner

Ms. Junying Kirk has such passion for writing and it shows in her writing from “The Same Moon”. The storyline and the characters she expressed in the book is reawakening. I was introduced to her writings by my husband Matt Posner, who is also an author and wrote The School of the Ages: Ghost in the Crystal and many other series as well. I have also purchased the second book written by Ms. Junying Kirk “Trials of Life – Journey to the West Trilogy”. I have become such a great admirer of your writings; please continue to generate more of these masterpieces. Best- Julie P

It’s the Same Moon,  5 Stars By KW

The Same Moon was a delight to read. At times I felt it was a little over reliant on minutiae, but such detail did help make the the life of Pearl Zhang come alive. While reading, I was able to inhabit the body of the protagonist and see the world through her eyes. I was able to enter the mind of a girl growing up in the final years of China under Mao and share the highs and lows she experienced maturing in that environment. It was intriguing to discover that even in a so-called State-dominated society, the loves and hates that develop between those interacting with you predominate in much the same way as they do in a supposedly freer society. Ms. Kirk made it possible for me to experience what life was like in world far removed from my own, but full of 90% of the same daily anxieties, hopes and ambitions that dominated my own experience of growing up. I loved the way Pearl would periodically display ethnocentric notions of psychological qualities she believed to be uniquely Chinese, but which turned out to be similar to some that I believed to be unique to the local community in the U.S. in which I was raised. Pearl may have grown up in China during the seventies and eighties, while I grew up in a rural community in the western U.S. during the fifties and sixties; even so, we experienced 90% or more of the same hopes, dreams, hassles, and setbacks. Regardless the differences in countries, political systems and even gender, I could relate with almost everything in this novel.

The only parts that put a definite gulf between us were the few times that the writer felt it necessary to have Pearl bask in the “elite” aspects of her educational background. I myself have been far from being an “elite” in anything. Even in this regard, though, I could understand the rationale for making this uniqueness plain. After all, at the time, Pearl would have been unable to study in England if she had not excelled in the Chinese educational system. Therefore, her being a member of an “educational elite” was such a prominent part of her life.

Most of the second part of the book focuses on her life living in Scotland and England. It was fascinating to read her experiences as she matured and assimilated, but, for me, the depiction of life growing up in China was the best part of the novel. It was the part that made it clear to me that we do live under the same moon. I’m looking forward to reading the next volume of this trilogy.

 

I’ve read almost all the novels rewritten my Chinese authors published in recent years. What’s different about Junying’s The Same Moon is that it’s about the life of a normal Chinese people. Being a Chinese who was brought up in China and now living in the west, there’s so much in Junying’s The Same Moon that I can relate to. Through the eyes of Pearl, I’m going back to the days when I was in China and my own journey to the west. To me this is not just a novel, its a history book which acurately recorded the lives of ‘normal’ Chinese people in the mordern China during cultural revolution/China’s opening to the west and for some of them their dreams of living in a free world. I can’t wait to read Junying’s next novel. In fact I order her next novel after read just a few pages of the The Same Moon!

Matt Posner rated it 5 Stars

The Same Moon is a novel in memoir form by my friend Junying Kirk. Made from a mix of fascinating details from daily struggle and the intense and poetic feelings of men and women in love, it chronicles the life of a Chinese girl growing to womanhood, first under the oppressive yoke of Maoism, and then, as a graduate student, in the United Kingdom. Protagonist Pearl Zhang grows up unaware of her beauty, enduring both physical and emotional torment, and then enters into a series of disappointing a…more

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Bin Yuan rated it 5 Stars

To me, The Same Moon accounted a true and first hand experience from the author that brought up powerful feelings inside me. On reading it I have gained a deep understanding of the world in which we live, through the author’s vivid descriptions and sharp observation. I was taken to a journey I have never been before, even though I came from China.This is the story of Pearl Zhang and her family in China, It is through their lives that family history unfolds and tragic secrets are exposed. The au…more

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Donna Carrick rated it 5 Stars

The full spectrum of human experience…The Same Moon by Junying Kirk is the tale of Pearl Zhang, a “spicy Sichuan girl” who grows up during Chairman Mao’s Cultural Revolution. More than just another “coming of age” novel, I found this to be a wonderfully-rendered character study. At all times fighting for freedom, Pearl entertains personal aspirations that are not in keeping with the expectations of her society.It would be an injustice to call The Same Moon a mere love story, although love is c…more

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Eri Nelson rated it 5 Stars

From the first moment, the lovely Pearl who shyly hid her smitten entrancement over the captivating Rain, took hold of my conscious thought and swept me away with its exquisite sway.As I read further, loosing myself within the richly enchantment of words, the notice of classic reads caught my interest. How many times I too could claim to the marvelous reads as to the likes of Jane Eyre, Anna Karenina, Jane Austin, and so many more. Perhaps it was too early to say but my fondness for this charmin…more

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Katy Sozaeva rated it 5 Stars

Pearl Zhang was born in the Sichuan province on mainland China in 1961. She was raised in a traditional Chinese manner, went to school, got a job, got married, had her single child … and then her life changed. She was given the opportunity to go study at Warwick University in United Kingdom for one year – and stayed. She adjusted to Western life, divorced her husband, lost her child to him, work, struggled, scrimped and saved. She was in a new world, a completely foreign situation – but under th…more

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Angela Maldita rated it 3 Stars

I honestly don’t know what to say about this book. I love it… but well… I don’t hate it either… maybe its just because its not my genre.First, what I love about this book is that its very vivid. It’s like I’ve been there, done what the character has done and travel to those country as well.Ms. Junying is very good in words, on describing things, on relating what she feels to the readers. Incorporating good phrases here and there as well added an impact to the book.I guess above it all, Ms.…more

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Vanessa Wu rated it 5 Stars

I read this book more than a month ago and let it settle in my mind before writing this review. I did this deliberately because I think few readers could have the same response as me to this book or read it with the same appreciation. I do not know the author exactly but I feel I know her through our shared experiences.Like me, she is originally from China, has an academic background and was steeped in English language and literature before coming to England and continuing her studies here. In T…more

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Dannie Hill rated it 4 Stars

I found The Same Moon by Junying Kirk to be a delightful read. From the beautiful cover to the end of an interesting journey in the life of Pearl Zhang. Pearl was born and lived into her twenties in mainland China during the harsh days of Communism. A period of turmoil and strife.It was very interesting to learn about how Pearl and others lived, loved and learned in an all but secret time to the Western world. Pearl’s childhood was hard but she always put education as a goal to strive for and be…more

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Sinead MacDughlas rated it 4 Stars

An extremely enjoyable readThis book is written in a fictional memoir style, making it easier for me to become emotionally attached to the main character, Pearl. I followed her journey from East to West eagerly. It’s easy to tell the author has a deep working knowledge of the culture and history of China. Some people may be put off by the depth of detail, and the amount of historical background, but I loved finding out more about a culture that already peaks my interest. Several times I found my…more

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Eden Baylee rated it 5 Stars

As a Canadian born Chinese, I didn’t have the history of China as a foundation for reading this book, but growing up Chinese in a very traditional home, even in French-speaking Canada afforded me great insight into Ms. Kirk’s sometimes painful adjustment to her new life in England.I’ve greatly enjoyed Ms. Kirk’s writing on her excellent blog where she chronicles many of her real-life travels. Though The Same Moon is a book of fiction, I suspect it is deeply steeped in the experiences of the auth…more

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Kate Bowyer rated it 4 Stars

If you’re looking for a book to take you away to a foreign land than this is for you. We get to live through Pearl in China and than in the UK as she struggles to fight for what she wants and has to make some big sacrifices on the way.It’s funny to see how families around the world are not so different sometimes even if cultures are very different. I really enjoyed getting to know China and as I read it I was thinking back on where I was in my life as to what was going on in China and know how…more

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Mira Kolar-Brown rated it 5 Stars

What a book, what a life!In an easy, unaffected narrative, Junying Kirk tells a story of life in China before and after the death of Mao Zedong. In the first half of the book she talks about family life, personal relationships, survival, customs and traditions, politics and bureaucracy as experienced first hand in an environment that offered little personal choice.In the second half of the book, the young woman tries to make her way at the other side of the world, battling the obstacles, making friends, forging relationships and jumping through the hoops on the foreign soil and in a foreign language.Very cleverly, the book is written in English as a second language, a touch that enhances authenticity and provides an interesting insight into the culture and way of thinking.