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Snow Flower and the Secret Fan Paperback – 2 Jan. 2007
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- Print length340 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherBloomsbury Publishing PLC
- Publication date2 Jan. 2007
- Dimensions19.7 x 2.2 x 13 cm
- ISBN-109780747583004
- ISBN-13978-0747583004
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Product description
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About the Author
Product details
- ASIN : 0747583005
- Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing PLC; Reprint edition (2 Jan. 2007)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 340 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9780747583004
- ISBN-13 : 978-0747583004
- Dimensions : 19.7 x 2.2 x 13 cm
- Best Sellers Rank: 81,488 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 12,415 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- 16,604 in Contemporary Fiction (Books)
- Customer reviews:
About the author
In her beloved New York Times bestsellers Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, Island of Sea Women, Peony in Love, Shanghai Girls, Dreams of Joy, and China Dolls, Lisa See has brilliantly illuminated the strong bonds between women. These books have been celebrated for their authentic, deeply researched, lyrical stories about Chinese characters and cultures. Ms. See’s new novel, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women, is inspired by the true story of Tan Yunxian—a woman born in the 15th century who became a doctor of women and girls. Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is not only a captivating story of women helping women, but it is also a triumphant reimaging of a woman who was remarkable in the Ming dynasty and would be considered remarkable and inspirational today.
Ms. See has always been intrigued by stories that have been lost, forgotten, or deliberately covered up, whether in the past or happening right now in the world today. For Snow Flower, she traveled to a remote area of China—where she was told she was only the second foreigner ever to visit—to research the secret writing invented, used, and kept a secret by women for over a thousand years. Amy Tan called the novel “achingly beautiful, a marvel of imagination.” Others agreed, and foreign-language rights for Snow Flower were sold to 39 countries. The novel also became a New York Times bestseller, a Booksense Number One Pick, has won numerous awards domestically and internationally, and was made into a feature film produced by Fox Searchlight.
Ms. See was born in Paris but grew up in Los Angeles. She lived with her mother but spent a lot of time with her father’s family in Chinatown. Her first book, On Gold Mountain: The One Hundred Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family (1995), was a national bestseller and a New York Times Notable Book. The book traces the journey of Lisa’s great-grandfather, Fong See, who overcame obstacles at every step to become the 100-year-old godfather of Los Angeles’s Chinatown and the patriarch of a sprawling family.
While collecting the details for On Gold Mountain, she developed the idea for her first novel, Flower Net (1997), which was a national bestseller, a New York Times Notable Book, and on the Los Angeles Times Best Books List for 1997. Flower Net was also nominated for an Edgar award for best first novel. This was followed by two more mystery-thrillers, The Interior (2000) and Dragon Bones (2003), which once again featured the characters of Liu Hulan and David Stark. This series inspired critics to compare Ms. See to Upton Sinclair, Dashiell Hammett, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Ms. See has led an active and varied career. She was the Publishers Weekly West Coast Correspondent for thirteen years. As a freelance journalist, her articles have appeared in Vogue, Self, and More, as well as in numerous book reviews around the country. She wrote the libretto for Los Angeles Opera based on On Gold Mountain, which premiered in June 2000 at the Japan American Theatre and was remounted in the Chinese Garden at the Huntington Library and Gardens in 2022. She also served as guest curator for an exhibit on the Chinese-American experience at the Autry Museum of Western Heritage, which then traveled to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., in 2001. Ms. See then helped develop and curate the Family Discovery Gallery at the Autry Museum, an interactive space for children and their families that focused on Lisa’s bi-racial, bi-cultural family as seen through the eyes of her father as a seven-year-old boy living in 1930s Los Angeles. She has designed a walking tour of Los Angeles Chinatown and wrote the companion guidebook for Angels Walk L.A. to celebrate the opening of the MTA’s Chinatown metro station. She also curated the inaugural exhibition—a retrospective of artist Tyrus Wong—for the grand opening of the Chinese American Museum in Los Angeles.
Ms. See was honored as National Woman of the Year by the Organization of Chinese American Women in 2001, was the recipient of the Chinese American Museum’s History Makers Award in 2003, and received the Golden Spike Award from the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California in 2017. She sits on the boards of Los Angeles Opera, The Music Center, the 1871 Chinese Massacre Foundation, and the Trusteeship—an organization comprised of preeminent women of achievement and influence in diverse fields.
Ms. See lives in Los Angeles. To learn more, please visit her web site at www.LisaSee.com. You can also follow her adventures on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
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Even though the women in the story did not like what was happening to them, they accepted what was happening... they had no choice! It was about their own survival. It never occurred to either Lily or Snowflower,(although they had seen Beautiful Moon die, the disabling pain that Snowflower's mother experienced and the disadvantage of not being able to run) to consider any change to the system that controlled their lives. The words they needed were not in their vocabulary to express anything other than reinforcing the codes of patriarchal thought. Men and women were instructed from an early age, through example, language, religious belief and superstition, punishment, codes of behaviour, and learning that there was only one way to be. If you followed that way you may be rewarded in a later life otherwise you suffered the consequences and were outcast. Observance was everything.
I liked the way it was written in the first person and See's use of reported speech creating an image that the writer was relaying and reliving her own past. She also engages the reader by asking questions and using expressions such as "You see, ...." creating a sense that the reader is a confidant.
Reading within the text I heard a strong voice which sounded as if had been translated from Chinese. I was surprised when I read up about See to discover she was an American with English as her first language. I was expecting a Chinese or Chinese-American. I thought authenticity was added to the story by the addition of Chinese vocabulary such as Laotong , jin and nu shu; as did the extracts of poetry and proverbs.
Perhaps the ending was a bit hurried and the discussion about Lady Lu taking on Snowflower's granddaughter as a servant rather abrupt but otherwise a skilled and crafted piece of writing from an excellent researcher.
I expected a bit more of a novel about China, or was it was like to be a woman in China in the nineteenth century,but, while this was an element of the story, especially early on, ultimately it was a story of friendship. Would I go as far as buying two copies so I could give one to my friend as The Times suggested? Probably not. I admired the strength of Lily and Snow Flower's friendship but actually I didn't feel like they knew each other that well. It's a little strange because they did spend a fair bit of time together on the page, and Lily (who narrates the story) frequently talks about Snow Flower, but you don't get that much of a sense of what they talk about to each other. Plus when they are both married I get the sense that actually their relationship isn't that close despite what it has battled through. I feel more like it is held up by some sort of sense of duty at least on Lily's part whereas I felt Snow Flower was more of a real friend. Despite the fact that they both fought for their friendship I saw their reasons for fighting under different lights.
I found the elements about life for Chinese women quite interesting although they were maybe a little difficult to get into a novel format without seeming a little slow. While I was interested from a historical and cultural stand point they really didn't have the markings of a great novel, and in he end I think that's what let the novel down a bit. Lots of the different elements were interesting but they weren't something that could really be made into an event for a story, except maybe the footbinding. Certainly the footbinding was one part of the novel that really got to me. The descriptions actually made me feel a little sick and it did give a sense of what it was really like in a way that the rest of the novel didn't seem to get to. There was only one other point that had a real impact on me and that seemed to be added simply to add a bit of...action I suppose, to the story. It didn't really feel like it had to happen.
Top reviews from other countries
She seamlessly includes superstition and magic along with everyday life and she follows the mind of a child through to an adult and an old lady with the gift of someone who lacks pretension and presents everything with beautiful honesty. There's so much information in this book that I will be reading it again to pull the research into my eye. It's been expertly researched and it was one of the best historical books I've ever read.
There were two areas that I felt could have been a bit better. The first one is that See is a bit heavy with her hints of the future. Her foreshadowing left me too aware of events that would happen and I felt that detracted from some of the surprises the book offered. This is a stylistic choice and I'm not really into foreshadowing and prefer the surprises. The second area is that she avoided the discussions about the parts of the story that didn't have to do immediately with her friendship and the secret fan.
Again, this is stylistic. I felt that more about her husband and her children could have been included, especially about her husband. The men in the story were decidedly flat and I have the opinion that adding some extra pages to the book and fleshing out her relationship with her husband in particular would have been valuable. She does note in her writing that she didn't want to focus on that relationship and that was essentially another story, I hope that it actually is and there is another book about the rest of Lily's life.
Overall though, these small complaints aside, this book was enrapturing. I didn't put it down the day I got it and read it from cover to cover the first day I got it and I'll be reading it again. It was great. I want to read more of See's books too and see what she's like about other subjects. This book was addressing some topics that touch women of every culture and had a strong resonance. Her knowledge and her sharing of this knowledge is a beautiful gift as well.
If you're trying to decide if you should read this book or not go for it and buy the book. It was well worth it and I'm so glad I took the chance with an unknown (to me) author.
Reviewed in India on 1 January 2019