Behind this facade is their father, whose gambling habit has caused them to be up to their eyeballs in debt. To right the situation (!) their father sells his daughters as wives for a rich Chinese-American's sons. At first the girls are not fazed by this but soon they realize that through marriage and the invasion of the Japanese, their life is going to change dramatically.
For me, no Lisa See book tops Peony in Love which I thought was absolutely wonderful. But Shanghai Girls does come close! I was totally mesmerized by the story and loved how this book wasn't only about China, it was also about the US and the countries' shared history. I also learned many new things through this book - for example do you know the concept of paper sons or have you heard of the US anti-Chinese detention center? Pearl and May are lucky to have each other's support througout their journey and I loved how Lisa See bound them together even more through their shared secrets. The ending was a bit of a dissapointment because some of the incidents at the end felt quite bland after everything that had happened till then.
Lisa See is such a gifted writer who never fails to please - so once again - I highly recommend Shanghai Girls and her other books as well!
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6 comments:
I read this several months ago and liked it. I felt the book ended a bit abruptly but then I heard a sequel is expected.
I read snow Flower and the Secret Fan a few years ago and loved it. Haven't read Peony in Love yet but it's on my list.
Nice review!
I liked this book a lot, but Snowflower and the Secret Fan is still my favorite by her.
I have this book in my to be read pile. After your review I'll have to move it up in the pile.
I have an award for you and your blog here;
http://bookaholicmom.blogspot.com/2010/02/award-time.html
I have this one to read. Based on your review I think I will enjoy it!
Great review! Glad to hear you enjoyed this one and Peony in Love was a favorite for me too. I was in an online bookclub for a month for that book and the author joined us. She was wonderful and it was so helpful to have her explain with the ancient history of the culture. We had such a good time that she included our names in the acknowledgments for this book (Shaghai Girls) because she was working on it at the time. (In the arc it's on page 314 - Debbie Wright from the Barnes & Noble club.) I've told this story a million times but I just can't help it. I'm still so excited that I got my name in a book!
Have a terrific week! Love your valentine background! :)
Wow great story Wrighty! That's so cool :)
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