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Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel
by Lisa See
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About This Book
ISBN13: 9781400060283 |
Only 2 left in stock at $10.95!
Synopses & Reviews
Publisher Comments:
Lily is haunted by memories — of who she once was, and of a person, long gone, who defined her existence. She has nothing but time now, as she recounts the tale of Snow Flower, and asks the gods for forgiveness.
In nineteenth-century China, when wives and daughters were foot-bound and lived in almost total seclusion, the women in one remote Hunan county developed their own secret code for communication: nu shu ("women's writing"). Some girls were paired with laotongs, "old sames," in emotional matches that lasted throughout their lives. They painted letters on fans, embroidered messages on handkerchiefs, and composed stories, thereby reaching out of their isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments.
With the arrival of a silk fan on which Snow Flower has composed for Lily a poem of introduction in nu shu, their friendship is sealed and they become "old sames" at the tender age of seven. As the years pass, through famine and rebellion, they reflect upon their arranged marriages, loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood. The two find solace, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a misunderstanding arises, their lifelong friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a brilliantly realistic journey back to an era of Chinese history that is as deeply moving as it is sorrowful. With the period detail and deep resonance of Memoirs of a Geisha, this lyrical and emotionally charged novel delves into one of the most mysterious of human relationships: female friendship.
Review:
"See's engrossing novel set in remote 19th-century China details the deeply affecting story of lifelong, intimate friends (laotong, or 'old sames') Lily and Snow Flower, their imprisonment by rigid codes of conduct for women and their betrayal by pride and love. While granting immediacy to Lily's voice, See (Flower Net) adroitly transmits historical background in graceful prose. Her in-depth research into women's ceremonies and duties in China's rural interior brings fascinating revelations about arranged marriages, women's inferior status in both their natal and married homes, and the Confucian proverbs and myriad superstitions that informed daily life. Beginning with a detailed and heartbreaking description of Lily and her sisters' foot binding ('Only through pain will you have beauty. Only through suffering will you have peace'), the story widens to a vivid portrait of family and village life. Most impressive is See's incorporation of nu shu, a secret written phonetic code among women — here between Lily and Snow Flower — that dates back 1,000 years in the southwestern Hunan province ('My writing is soaked with the tears of my heart,/ An invisible rebellion that no man can see'). As both a suspenseful and poignant story and an absorbing historical chronicle, this novel has bestseller potential and should become a reading group favorite as well. Agent, Sandra Dijkstra. Author tour. (July)" Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
Review:
"[A] timeless portrait of a contentious, full-blooded female friendship, one that includes, over several decades, envy, betrayal, erotic love, and deep-seated loyalty. (Grade: A)" Entertainment Weekly
Review:
"Taut and vibrant, the story offers a delicately painted view of a sequestered world and provides a richly textured account of how women might understand their own lives. A keenly imagined journey into the women's quarters." Kirkus Reviews
Review:
"See's meticulous research and exquisite language deliver a story that is haunting, powerful, and, at times, almost too painful to bear. Highly recommended." Library Journal
Review:
"Lisa See has written her best book yet. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is achingly beautiful, a marvel of imagination of a real and secret world that has only recently disappeared. It is a story so mesmerizing the pages float away and the story remains clearly before us from beginning to end." Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club and The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings
Review:
"I was mesmerized by this wondrous book — the story of a secret civilization of women, who actually lived in China not long ago....Magical, haunting fiction. Beautiful." Maxine Hong Kingston, author of The Fifth Book of Peace
Review:
"Only the best novelists can do what Lisa See has done, to bring to life not only a character but an entire culture, and a sensibility so strikingly different from our own. This is an engrossing and completely convincing portrayal of a woman shaped by suffering forced upon her from her earliest years, and of the friendship that helps her to survive." Arthur Golden, author of Memoirs of a Geisha
Synopsis:
This absorbing novel — unlike anything Lisa See has written before — takes place in nineteenth-century China when girls had their feet bound, then spent the rest of their lives in seclusion with only a single window from which to see. Illiterate and isolated, they were not expected to think, be creative, or have emotions. But in one remote county, women developed their own secret code, nu shu — women's writing — the only gender-based written language to have been found in the world. Some girls were paired as old-same in emotional matches that lasted throughout their lives. They painted letters on fans, embroidered messages on handkerchiefs, and composed stories, thereby reaching out of their windows to share their hopes and dreams. An old woman tells of her relationship with her old-same, their arranged marriages, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood — until a terrible misunderstanding threatens to tear them apart.Snow Flower and the Secret Fan delves into one of the most mysterious and treasured relationships of all time — female friendship.
About the Author
Lisa See is the author of Flower Net (an Edgar Award nominee), The Interior, and Dragon Bones, as well as the critically acclaimed memoir On Gold Mountain. The Organization of Chinese American Women named her the 2001 National Woman of the Year. She lives in Los Angeles.
What Our Readers Are Saying
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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
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cdomal, March 21, 2007 (view all comments by cdomal)
This is my 2nd attempt at getting some recognition for this wonderful book. I'm very hard to please when it comes to books. If it hasn't caught my attention by the 2nd chapter, I give up. This was so beautifully written. Every sentence so carefully crafted that I wished it would go on forever. It's the story of Lily who looks back at her life as an old lady. The betrayal of her best friend and her regrets over doing this. It takes place in 19th century China when women's feet were bound and marriages were arranged. "Nu shu" was the secret language women used to communicate with other women via the "Secret Fan".
Product Details
- ISBN:
- 9781400060283
- Author:
- Publisher:
- Random House
- Subject:
- General
- Subject:
- Women
- Subject:
- Historical - General
- Subject:
- Married women
- Copyright:
- 2005
- Publication Date:
- June 28, 2005
- Binding:
- Hardcover
- Language:
- English
- Pages:
- 258
- Dimensions:
- 9.76x6.58x1.06 in. 1.13 lbs.
