From left: Madame Chiang Kai-shek – Meiling – with her sisters Ailing and Qingling in 1942 in Chungking. Photograph: AP A remarkable story of war, communism and espionage related with nuanced sympathy... The lives of the three Song sisters – the subjects of Jung Chang’s spirited new book – are more than worthy of an operatic plot. Julia Lovell, Guardian

In telling the story of Ching-ling, Ei-ling and Mai-ling Chang wants to provide a window into the politics of the period and shine a light on some uncomfortable truths. The writing style Absorbing . . . In this lucid, wise, forgiving biography Chang gives a new twist to an old line. Behind every great man . . . is a Soong sister.” — The Times (UK) The girls did not know that their father had been secretly funding revolutionary Sun Yat-sen’s shambolic plans to overthrow the Qing dynasty. But when they returned to Shanghai in 1909 the sisters adhered to his cause and both Ei-ling and Ching-ling were courted by the man who became China’s first interim president and “Father of the Republic” in 1912.After documenting the life and career of Mao Zedong, and making Empress Dowager Cixi an almost household name, filling in the gap between Cixi’s reign and Mao’s rise made perfect sense, and that’s what Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister proves to be.

Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister, written in a compulsive style that sweeps the story along, is much the fullest account of their remarkable lives available in English… The warts-and-all portrait of “the Father of the Republic” is a welcome corrective to All three sisters enjoyed tremendous privilege and glory, but also endured constant mortal danger. They showed great courage and experienced passionate love, as well as despair and heartbreak. They remained close emotionally, even when they embraced opposing political camps and Ching-ling dedicated herself to destroying her two sisters' worlds. The author's youthfulness helps to assure the inevitable comparison with the Anne Frank diary although over and above the sphere of suffering shared, and in this case extended to the death march itself, there is no spiritual or emotional legacy here to offset any reader reluctance. The book’s strongest point is its nuanced sympathy for the sisters. Ailing and Meiling, in particular, have been periodically lambasted for seeking profit and indulgence, and abetting Chiang’s brutal dictatorship, during the agonies of the second world war. Although Chang records Meiling’s extravagance and addiction to comfort, “little sister” also comes over as surprisingly affectionate and loyal, especially to her family. Ailing – conventionally denounced as a ruthless profiteer – is described as a devoted sister who saw it as her responsibility to provide financially for her less practically minded siblings. In Chang’s account, Qingling is the least appealing: a hard-headed Comintern convert, whose political convictions overrode feelings for her family.This book ended out on my list due to a challenge from a friend to read something way out of my comfort zone. I know very little about China or its history, and was invited into this wing of the library because there were three women who were important and relevant as to how China shaped into the nation it has today.