Author: Lisa See
One-sentence summary: The secret womens’ language of nu-shu both unites and divides two laotong friends in nineteenth century China.
B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 6
Our favorite thing about it: Learning about the history and culture of China through the story.
Our least favorite thing about it: The details of the footbinding process!
Main Topics of Discussion: Footbinding, Friendship, Marriage, Family relationships, Women in China
Our favorite quote: “We were to be like long vines with entwined roots, like trees that stand a thousand years, like a pair of mandarin ducks mated for life.”
Notes: There was much discussion on the topic of footbinding. We decided that given the circumstances it’s likely that we would have chosen to bind our daughters’ feet as well even though it would have been the hardest thing to do. We thought that it was interesting that the friendship between two women allowed them to be close to someone emotionally since this kind of relationship was not common with their husbands. We briefly discussed the relationships between Lily and her husband and Snow Flower and her husband as well as the intimacy and life experiences the two friends shared. We marveled at the life of women in China at that time who were housebound because of their bound feet and therefore lived a very different life from ours.
Special Note: We were able to speak to the author of this book during our meeting and gained wonderful insights into her creative process as well as insights into her characters. The discussion was a highlight of the evening for us.
Memorable Meeting Moments: the Chinese Buffet, the chopstick incident, and receiving our Chinese character bookmarks that Becky made for us!
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1 comment:
very nice! thanks rachel!
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