Evelina | AvalinahsBooks's Reviews > Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

I LOVED Snow Flower and the Secret Fan! It was sad, yet fulfilling, true and honest, yet fictional. A truly moving story about the hardships of being a woman in nineteenth-century China. Yes, foot binding too. We'll get there. By the way, this is going to be a buddy read review, so get ready to read a lot of questions and answers! If you want to read the interview questions and answers, read them on my blog here, as it is too long to put into a Goodreads review.

In nineteenth century China, a girl from a poor family is paired into a lifelong female friendship match with a girl from a family of a higher social standing. So her life begins, and we learn about it through her own eyes, as she is growing up. Not only does Snow Flower and the Secret Fan extensively cover the woman's place and life in pre-modern China, but it's also a tale about sisterhood, trust and empathy, as well as just being a good human being, no matter what your circumstances are -- or failing to be one.


Read the full review here.


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I have quite an assortment of books for this one! First of all, naturally I'm going to recommend another novel of Lisa See's that tells about the traditions of a different minority of the Chinese people: The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane . Meanwhile, if you are more into reading about courtesans, you might enjoy Amy Tan's The Valley of Amazement , which is also a tale of hardship and involves some foot binding and other traditions, but in a completely different situation for the main character. I will even go as far as saying that Snow Flower and the Secret Fan has ties to The Handmaid's Tale , because it's about strong female relationships in a terribly restricting, even violent society for women. Brick Lane is also from a different cultural context, not China - however, it also deals with women's freedom and the woman's place in different cultures. And The Secrets of Jin-Shei is fantasy, and might have one or two cliches, but it's also the only (older!) book that I've read that uses nu shu as a part of the plot.


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