Dave Schaafsma's Reviews > My Only Child

I picked this up from the library because I saw it was Chinese, and I have read very few Chinese comics. Wang Ning is the author of the book, and he chose four premier Chinese artists to illustrate the stories, based on his research into a kind of specific issue: China instituted a "One Chid, One Family" policy to address their population explosion in 1979, and enforced it for 35 years, until 2021. But what happened if you lost your only child, to disease, accidents, or whatever?

Ning joined internet support groups/chat rooms to explore this question, and he discovered that as many as 79,000 children died during any given year! He found that at one point families that had lost a child could apply to have another child, but obstacles arose for many families. In one family, a child disappeared, probably kidnapped. The mother had a dream that he was trying to get home, so they would no t admit he was dead, and they also refused to move to another home, waiting the rest of their lives for him to return.

All four of the stories are heart-breaking, maybe especially for readers who are parents, not sure. I can say I cried more than once while reading it. The art work varied, and the translation was rough in places. I wavered between 3 and 4 stars for this collection, but because I am still wiping my eyes and I'm sentimental, I gave it four stars. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the One Child Policy and Chinese culture.