Skip to main content

Book Review: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See


Lily is the daughter of a farmer in a remote county of China in the 19th century. As she arrives at the tender age of six, she receives a visit from a diviner and then a matchmaker from another area of the county. It seems her feet, which are so important in this culture, have potential to be what people of this time consider perfect, so she is given the opportunity to be paired with a laotong, or "old same." In her lower status as a farmer's daughter, she would not normally have this opportunity, so she is naturally excited.

Lily and her laotong, Snow Flower, begin their relationship at this young age, and throughout Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Lisa See shows us how their lives intertwine and diverge over the years. This is more than just a story of friendship, though. What Lisa See presents is a clear picture of the culture of the time. The traditions explored in this book are both fascinating and disturbing; the chapter on footbinding is particularly painful. I learned a great deal about 19th century China, and I am certainly glad I didn't grow up in that time and place ~ especially as a woman.

I've had this book on my shelf for some time now, and have continuously heard from people who loved it. I did enjoy it. It was interesting, engaging and enlightening. I'm just not as excited by it as I thought I would be. And perhaps that's because it was as good as I expected it to be based on the comments I've received from others. I think I would have enjoyed it even more if I hadn't heard so many good things about it first.

My Rating: 4/5

Reading group guide and discussion questions for Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Read my review of Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

This review was written based on a copy of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan that I received from PaperbackSwap.com.
Labels:

Comments

  1. At least it met your expectations even if it did not excite you.I loved this, you might be interested in what I had to say here
    http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/5168858/?page=2

    ReplyDelete

  2. Sometimes I wonder if we expect too much when we read such great reviews.
    I liked it because I thought it was so informative of something (foot binding) I didn't know anything about. It was such a different culture!!

    ReplyDelete

  3. I have heard great things about this book. Thanks for the review!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by! I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Popular posts from this blog

Banned Books Week: Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park

This is the end of Banned Books Week and unfortunately, I haven't had a lot of time to write about banned books this year. But I did want to include at least one post about it, so today I wanted to share one of the book series that it seems most people are surprised to find on the list: Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park.

According to Wikipedia:
The Junie B. Jones series came in at #71 on the American Library Association's list of the Top 100 Banned or Challenged Books from 2000-2009. Reasons cited are poor social values taught by the books and Junie B. Jones not being considered a good role model due to her mouthiness and bad spelling/grammar. This is an interesting example of a banned book. Many times there are serious, controversial topics featured in books that are challenged. Things like homosexuality, drugs, vulgar language, etc. You can actually understand why people may not want their children to read those books, and why they may challenge their inclusion in school libra…
10 comments
Read more

Book Review: No Story to Tell by KJ Steele

Victoria has been put down since the day she was born. First by her parents who were disappointed that she survived while her twin brother died. Then by her verbally abusive husband and his low-life friends. But soon an intriguing artist named Elliott arrives in town and starts encouraging Victoria to follow her dream of opening her own dance studio. She also begins to receive phone calls from a mysterious someone who gets her to open up about her past and face her true feelings.

In No Story to Tell, KJ Steele has captured the small-town atmosphere and brought these characters to life. From the victimized Victoria, to her drunk and obnoxious husband Bobby and his drunk and obnoxious friends, to all the side characters who you'd expect to encounter in a town like this ~ all are so realistic in both their actions and their voices. She has written a compelling story of an abused woman who thinks she is trapped in this loveless, miserable existence. But then she finds a spark of hope…
Post a Comment
Read more

Book Review: I See You by Clare Mackintosh

Title: I See You
Author: Clare Mackintosh
Genre: thriller
Published: February 21, 2017
Format: ebook (NetGalley)
Source: publisher
Buy on Amazon(affiliate link)


Have you ever felt like someone was watching you? You will after reading Clare Mackintosh's latest release I See You. Told from the perspectives of two women, one who appears to be targeted by a criminal and the other who is the police officer working the case, this psychological thriller will have you looking over your own shoulder by the end.

Zoe is a typical working mother who takes the Underground through London to her office every day. Like most commuters, she has a routine that she follows every day, leaving home at the same time, sitting in the same train car, taking the same route to work from the station. It's habit. But she starts to realize this may not be a good idea after seeing her own photo in an advertisement in the newspaper. Another woman who appears in the advertisement is murdered and Zoe starts to ge…
2 comments
Read more