Growing up in 1990s China, in a village where failure to observe the rigidly enforced one-child policy is deemed tantamount to a crime, Chen Di must fight to get the education she craves in a world in which boys are prioritised. Following her mother's untimely death, 16-year-old Chen Di's thirst for vengeance against those she holds responsible brings about her transformation from a gutsy, marginalised child into an aikido-practising young woman who braves Shanghai. 'The Cry of the Silkworm' is a startling illumination of the ripple effect of the authoritarian regime's policies still being felt today.