I remember how much I loved Snow Flower and the Secret Fan so was not surprised at how much I enjoyed this story. The three women, Ruby, Helen and Grace, are so very different from each other. I like that each has chapters told from their perspective so that you get to understand their background, motivators loves. I had to admire each one but have less to say about Helen than the others. The will to survive and thrive is central to the book. I love See's earlier works but this one is not a favorite. It all felt a little stilted somehow -- the characters weren't as likable and their actions not as believable as they needed to be for me to fall into the story and be swept away. And the story dragged, sometimes painfully. The long list of places, names, and events the characters plod through reminded of how a nonfiction work can sometimes drag because the author is required by adherence to the truth to sort of haul us along through the slow parts. But this is fiction, so why drag us through anything?I love historical fiction above all other genres and See is generally a master at it. The book is well-researched and well-written if a bit stiff, and it did feel like a fresh angle on a time and place I've read about before ... but it just wasn't a book to fall in love with.
Do You like book China Dolls (2014)?
Living in China, and learning a bit of Chinese made this especially fun to read!
—lolo
jamie ford and lisa see - wonderful storytellers
—Nitrokila
