Red Memory: The Afterlives of China’s Cultural Revolution

Branigan, former China correspondent for The Guardian, debuts with an exploration of the human toll of the Cultural Revolution in China (1966–76), during which two million people were killed and 36 million were imprisoned or otherwise persecuted. Narrator Rebecca Lam provides a careful, sensitive presentation, conveying these painful stories and accounts with an even tone that acknowledges emotion without drama or ornament. As the book details the trauma inflicted upon so many—with people reporting their family members for betraying the state, and others killed on the basis of flimsy rumors—Lam’s performance allows the hurts of Branigan’s interviewees to be viscerally understood. This approach creates emotional space for listeners to deeply consider individual events and their connection to the larger political context of Mao’s China. Branigan includes some amusing anecdotes, but these are few and far between and serve as a foil for the book’s heavier passages. There is hope that speaking of the pain may keep it from reoccurring, but the author soberingly hints that a new cycle is beginning.