The author of My Step-Mother: Wife and Political Commissar is a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and the daughter of Li Rui - a Chinese Communist Party veteran. She boycotted her father's funeral, calling it an improper tribute to a man who once worked for Mao Zedong but later became a fierce critic of the regime.

The book tells the inside story about how China's leaders after Mao control Communist Party's regime and even monitor their own seniors through their spouses.

《我有这样一个继母》的作者是斯坦福大学胡佛研究所的客座研究员，是中国共产党元老李锐的女儿，她抵制了李锐的葬礼，称这是对曾任毛泽东秘书，但后来成为毛政权激烈批评者的不敬。

这本书讲述了一个里面的故事，讲述了后毛泽东时代的中共统治者如何维持它的政权，甚至通过配偶监视自己党的前辈。