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Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Lisa See
An intimate look at women and friendship in 19th century rural China.
Random House
June 2005
272 pages
ISBN: 1400060281
Hardcover
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Women's Fiction
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 ("womenâ'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.
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