Customer Reviews

The Small Woman

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This is a true story of an insignificant English maiden who went to China to tell the Chinese people of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Alan Burgess weaves a masterful tale, including harrowing escapes, a clash of cultures and customs, extreme poverty and deprivation, amidst an enchanting background of picturesque cities tucked in the misty mountains of Northern China, official Mandarins on palanquins, and the dusty mule trails that tie it all together.

There is even a love story of Gladys and a Nationalist army officer tucked in between the bombing of her town and the marching of 100 children refugees over treacherous mountains to Sian (Xian) in search of an orphanage to care for them.

You'll not be able to put this book down, and you'll laugh and cheer for the glorious work that God does through this determined and hardy woman.

The book is an excellent story and easy to read and enjoy. In 1957 in Taiwan I met The Small Woman and Gladys was real. No card-board Christian front to her. She was disapointed that Miss Bergman was chosen to play her life on screen. She thought she was too tall and had just left her husband for the Italian director. In those days such was not as accepted as it is today. I am glad to see her life still in print for another generation.

The movie made me want to read the book. I've read & re-read it. It wets your appetite for adventure in another place, another time. I've begun looking for other books about China and Gladys. I'm enjoying discovering the History, the time, the landscape, it's inhabitants and the many authors who've written about China. It has made me want to go to China to see the places she roamed and walk there. It's romance, history, adventure, so many things in one small book.

Alan Burgess' book is the foundation for the movie The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, even though in the book it is called the Inn of the Eight Happinesses. It is the story of Gladys Aylward who wanted to be a missionary to China. I thought it would be a book mostly about missionary work, but it is not. It is a remarkable story about a woman who had to deal with unbelievable conditions and reconcile her actions with her religious beliefs. There is very little religion in the book. The book is really more action pack than the movie and gives a better insight to China in the early days of the war with Japan. The movie glosses over a number of interesting details which add much to the book. This book is out of print, but should be read by anyone with an interest in China, Japan or the Second World War.

As a non-religious person (I had a Buddhist and Christian upbringing but grew to be non-religious in my adult years), to me what is most moving about the life of Gladys Aylward in war-torn China is how she persevered in her efforts to integrate herself into a new culture in a foreign land, at one of the most tumultuous times in history, while still maintaining her own faith and managed to convert others to her religion by first grasping others' perspectives and understanding their experiences. Somehow she lost her cultural baggage (literally and metaphorically), got over it, and quietly learn the locals' ways of life by interacting with them on a personal level rather than positioning herself as a high-and-mighty missionary preaching to the ignorant natives. Mentored by an experienced missionary with a no-nonsense attitude, Gladys learnt and grew to love and respect the local ways of life, with an open-minded freshness that came from a curious mind and a generous personality. The contrast of Gladys' warmth and integration with the local culture with another older missionary who never learnt a word of the language despite decades of living in the country is startling. Aylward showed genuine Christian humility and from a timid and clueless parlour maid grew to become an assured and resourceful woman whose virtues shown through to all who came across her, so much so that she was given a Chinese name signifying 'the virtuous one'. This is the part of this small book that I most enjoyed - she really is a 'small woman' in the best sense of the term, by leading others through her quiet example.

The Japanese's bloody intrusion into the tough-yet-idyllic existence of this rural community is honestly and harrowingly rendered, the cold-blooded cruelties of which constrast sharply with, and overshadow, the narrative on the budding romantic relationship between Aylward and the Nationalist general. Here she reminded me a little of the character Maria in the Sound of Music - one whose love of God did not prevent her from loving and being loved by a man, even in the throes of war.

All in all, an epic tale of a woman's life in a foreign land, how she grew to love her new-found life and how she was loved and respected by all around her in return. The major feat she pulled off towards the end, taking 100 orphaned children with her to safety while playing cat-and-mouse with the Japanese army, did not seem so improbable when one sees how she has grown and developed under the grace of God in spite of the unexpected turns in her life path. This is a small book that would be appreciated by anyone with an interest in experiencing life in war-torn China beyond the official statistics and male-driven narratives, as well as by people who are looking for a heart-warming story about the fortitude of the human spirit in the face of adversity, with the heros being an unassuming woman and her orphaned children. Above all, this book would be loved by both religious and non-religious readers, for this slim volume depicts the humble story of an unpretentious missionary whose spiritual grace crosses language, cultural and religious barriers. An absolute gem.

This is a very moving account of Gladys Aylward's missionary service in the mountain villages of North China. She was an "independent" self-supporting Missionary (not CIM - China Inland Mission's missionary : because by CIM's reckonings, she didn't qualify.) That the book and her life got to be written is itself a miracle. Woven into it was also a gripping account of life and death as the Chinese struggled against the Japanese invaders during the early stages of World War II. Perhaps poignant was this exchange towards the end of the book :"When had you been last home ?" asked the American missionary. She smiled, "What chance have I of going back to England when I don't even know where tomorrow's dinner's coming from ?" (She had been away from home for 17 years.) The book is a very powerful account of the moving of the Lord.

Gladys Alyward was rejected by the CIM because she failed on her theology test, still certain that God wanted her in China, she crosses Russia when they were at war with China over Manchuria, She makes a narrow escape from Russia,as the Russian soldiers mistake missionary for mechanic,gets to China and travels to a small city in northern Shansi. Here she learnd Chinese fluently, gets her name Ai-Wah -Deh (The Victorius One)from stopping a blooy prison riot,converts the mandarin to christianity, falls in love with Linan, a nationalist general and finally amid typhod fever and internal injuries marches to Sian with one hundred children orphaned by Japanese bombs.

I did find it a little disapointing that it does not quite finish the story...but as she was still alive when this book was written it can't be helped.

If you are interested in China and the missionary experience, this is a book you must not miss. It is extremely easy to read, you'll finish it in no time!! If you have read about China this book may give you insight into one of the most remote corners of the country. It is also a story of incredible bravery and sacrifice to others.

I always believed the missionary effort in China had been quite hopeless, but reading this book made me see the way one "small woman" influenced so many lives, leaving a lasting impression and truly changing people for the better through patience and above all, a lot of intelligence.

Gladys Aylward was a living sacrifice for God and the people of China. She was severely tested even though she had proven herself faithful repeatedly. God blessed her devotion to Him. When things looked bleak for us, her struggles inspired me to complete the adoption of another Chinese daughter. She was a feisty little spiritual giant.

This is the story that the movie The Inn of the Sixth Happiness was based on. After I watched the movie I wanted to read the book & I can say the book was just as great if not better than the movie. The book is a very plain, simple appearing story, but let me say it packs a powerful punch...so don't judge this book by it's cover!