An engrossing new book that meticulously reports on a country in the throes of change ... What sets the story told in Private Revolutions apart, however, is the speed and magnitude of the upheaval, captured by Yang with palpable admiration for the women negotiating these seismic shifts one day at a time.
Yang, whose narratives are culled from interviews and diaries, represents these women honestly, but as a result, the writing can be flat ... Surprisingly, it is Yang’s straightforward prose that makes Private Revolutions a compelling read. Anecdotes, told without sentiment, veer from bleak to absurd ... Because Yang is disinclined to be melodramatic, her book rings true.
