I received Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See as a get well gift from my Aunt. Finally, after finishing Texas (what a long read that was), I treated myself to a choice from the long negleted "book stack". This book is a great selection! It is an historical fiction accounting of the the life of a chinese girl, Lily, set in the 1800's in a Hunan county. The second chapter has a description of the disfiguring horrible tradition of foot binding that I will never forget. I learned that that the girl's toe bones and arch must break to complete this process. I will edit this post as I have more to say about this book. I can't wait to get back to this book later this evening.
It is as good as other eastern tales such as Aurthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha
or some of Perl Buck's materpieces. In the past, the New Mexico Readers' Group has discussed Memoirs of a Geisha, The Good Earth, Imperial Woman and Bound Feet and Western Dress, A Memoir by Pang-Mei Natasha Chang. I hope that our book club picks an Amy Tan book at some point, as they are delightful also. I would highly recommend my two favorites, The Joy Luck Club and The Kitchen God's Wife.
Perhaps if you never read the book Memoirs of a Geisha you could enjoy the movie. I did not, and my recommendation would be to read the book. It was excellent.
