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Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel | 
 enlarge | Author: Lisa See
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
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Rating:  576 reviews
Sales Rank: 222
Media: Paperback
Pages: 288
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.7
ISBN: 0812968069
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780812968064
ASIN: 0812968069
Publication Date: February 21, 2006
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Condition: Well-worn copy. ACCEPTABLE with noted wear to cover and pages. Binding intact. May contain highlighting, inscriptions or notations. We offer a no hassle guarantee on all our items. Orders are generally shipped no later than next business day. We offer a no hassle gu
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Product Description
In nineteenth-century China, in a remote Hunan county, a girl named Lily, at the tender age of seven, is paired with a laotong, “old same,” in an emotional match that will last a lifetime. The laotong, Snow Flower, introduces herself by sending Lily a silk fan on which she’s painted a poem in nu shu, a unique language that Chinese women created in order to communicate in secret, away from the influence of men. As the years pass, Lily and Snow Flower send messages on fans, compose stories on handkerchiefs, reaching out of isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments. Together, they endure the agony of foot-binding, and reflect upon their arranged marriages, shared 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 deep friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart.
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Lisa See is the author of Flower Net (an Edgar Award nominee), The Interior, and Dragon Bones, as well as the critically acclaimed memoir On Gold Mountain. The Organization of Chinese American Women named her the 2001 National Woman of the Year. She lives in Los Angeles.
From the Hardcover edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 571 more reviews...
 Sympathy with Both Women and Men July 10, 2005
Virginia J. Tufte (Beverly Hills, CA USA)
271 out of 299 found this review helpful
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel is surely intended for any reader who likes a compelling, historically-set, moving, suspenseful story. I have been a fan of Lisa See's mysteries, and her sympathies with, and skill in creating characters of both sexes, are apparent in both the mystery plots and the present book.
This plot is beautifully woven, with two women at its center, but there is compassion for both the women and the men in the nineteenth-century Chinese society the author re-creates so vividly. Lisa See obviously LIKES her characters, and she develops some understanding of and compassion for ALL of them. Her natural sensitivity, vast research--including visits and interviews in the remote region she is writing about--make her work fully convincing.
Tender, celebratory, joyous, painful, heart-breaking at times-- this is a memorable, glorious book. After reading it, I found myself thinking more and more about some of the power, motivations, love, violence, and ways of communication in our twenty-first century societies.
I will pass my copy along to a friend or two, but I will say "Be sure to return it."
 Engrossing Story of Women's Friendships August 14, 2005
Elizabeth Hendry (New Jersey USA)
160 out of 171 found this review helpful
Lisa See's Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is an engrossing and fascinating story of women's friendships in nineteenth century rural China. This is an excellent, well-written novel--fascinating on so many levels. Lily, the narrator of the novel is in her eighties, looking back on her life. She shares the stories of her foot binding, nu shu, the secret women's writing, and the various formally women's friendships that society enforced. Lily's sister participated in a sworn sisterhood, where a group of young women formed a friendship that was to last until marriage, but Lily is paired with one girl, Snow Flower, her laotong or "old same." Lily and Snow Flower have a love that is stronger than all of her other relationships--and it causes them both more heartbreak. The novel is really the story of their friendship, its depths, its deceits, its strengths--and it is a fascinating read about a society so different from our own. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan reminds me in many ways of The Red Tent in that it explores female friendship in a setting much different than any contemporary one. A fascinating read.
Great Examination of Rural 1800s China and Women March 10, 2007
Lisa Shea
79 out of 94 found this review helpful
There are certain books you read that make you really think, "Thank goodness I wasn't living in THAT culture!" Snow Flower and the Secret Fan definitely falls into that category. This story traces the life of Lily, a young farmer's daughter in a very rural area of China, born in 1823.
The book was very well researched, and does do its best to explain that while this life was not as free as modern culture is for women, it was in some ways "not as awful" as it could have been. Lily explains that in some areas of China, women were worked brutally hard, treated like pack animals. In her region, women were treasured. You might think this is a great thing :) However, by treasured, this meant they were isolated in a room with lattice windows, so that some light would get in but they could not be seen. This kept them safe - but trapped. To make matters worse, their beauty was determined by how tiny their feet were. This isn't just the tiny-waist of a corset. Young girls actually had their feet broken and squished, over a period of 2 years, so that an adult woman had a foot about the size of a thumb. All that was left of the foot was one big toe to balance on. It meant their gait was slow and delicate. In essence, they could never run away - and they could barely walk around to do minor chores - cooking, cleaning.
So on one hand, this was a very restricted life for women. They were hidden away in an isolated room, and their broken feet were tiny and barely functional. On the other hand, a hard-working peasant woman might look on this as the life of luxury. Why couldn't *She* laze away in peace and quiet, doing embroidery and weaving? Why couldn't *She* have the excuse of tiny feet instead of slaving in the hot sun all day doing field work?
So into this world of hiding-away, Lily is hooked up with a 'laotong' - or lifelong best friend. The two talk with private women-only writing, mu shu. It gives them a way to discuss the problems with their lives. There are of course misunderstandings, changes as the girls mature into women, jealousies, issues with children, and so on.
I love reading books about other times and cultures, and have read many books that detail the "life was awful for women back then" situations. Foot binding was awful, and I'm certainly glad they don't do it any more. The rigid order of "boys are better than girls" and "wives are subservient to husbands" is also not a wonderful one, but this was pretty common in most cultures around the world. Both of these points were hammered a bit heavily in the book. It was fine the first five times - but re-reading it every 5th page made me really long for more details.
For example, we hear hardly anything about how birth was handled, what children wore, the details of the marriage ceremony, what the various festivals mentioned were like, if they had any instruments, if they had books, pasttimes, toys, hobbies, styles of embroidery, etc. etc. These important features of life are glossed over with a mention of tassles or a comment about shoes. Instead, we hear over and over again that girls are worse than boys. We hear that husbands must be obeyed. We hear about the pain of footbinding. I think most of us readers really did understand the basics after the third or fourth mention.
That's not to say the book isn't a great read. But I think with just a little more time, it could have been stellar. The book is clearly all about 'women', but even so, the men mentioned are vague stereotypes - the wife-beater, the distant father, the weakling son. Even women who are in restrictive cultures can form relationships with males. The heroines in this story seem not to like guys, not to like girls, and to care for each other in a sort of shallow way. Lily "loves" Snow Flower instantly - but doesn't really want to listen to her problems. Snow Flower lies to Lily pretty much constantly, wanting to maintain the illusion she has.
I'd love to read another novel, set in this same world, but with more complex characters.
Excellent! December 23, 2006
Carolyn Rampone (Plantation, FL USA)
41 out of 41 found this review helpful
The lifelong story of Lily and Snow Flower broke my heart on so many levels. I cried for them as little girls enduring the traditions they were born to. I cried some more as their fates unfolded and it became evident it would not be a happy ever after tale. "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" was an unexpected surprise for me, a great story with twists and turns you might not anticipate. It is fast moving , almost from the first page and by mid book, I wasn't able to put it down. I just had to know what happened and couldn't wait for the ending. Teen girls should read "Snow Flower" to better understand how far women have come since the days of foot binding and arranged marriages. This was an excellent story and I highly recommend it.
A culture that is no more, and a lifestyle that once defined China September 3, 2006
Linda Linguvic (New York City)
34 out of 35 found this review helpful
This 2005 novel is about the friendship between two Chinese women in mid-19th century rural China. What was so wonderful about it was that I actually felt I was part of their world and totally accepted their view of life as my own.
Snow Flower and Lily are friends, but their friendship was not random. When they were only seven years old, a marriage broker arranged a contract in which they agreed to be friends for life. They did not live in the same town and Snow Flower came from a more prosperous family than Lily, but Snow Flower visited Lily often, and learned to do household chores as well as the complicated embroidery that all young Chinese girls did in preparation for their future marriages. Yes, both of these girls, as well as the other girls in their households had bound feet. The pain must have been awful. Yet, it was an accepted part of being a woman in those times, and mothers who wanted their daughters to marry well had to force their young girls to go through the agony.
A woman's world was completely different from the world of men. Their lives were that of isolation. In order to communicate, they actually had a secret written language. This language has been documented and really did exist. It is the only known language in the world to have been developed exclusively by women for women. The two girls would write to each other in this language on a fan which they sent back and forth to each other. Both of them hoped for a bright future.
As the girls grow up we share their experiences of marriage. They didn't meet their husbands until the wedding day. And their function in their new households was only to bear sons. Mothers-in-law were usually hard taskmasters and were always critical of them. But if they were married to the eldest son, they would, one day, become a mother-in-law themselves. And so their lives were that of stoicism and acceptance. This was the only way for them to live.
Lily was lucky. Her marriage was good. She produced boy children, and, through the years, she and her husband got to know each other and accept each other. However, the person she was closest to in the world was Snow Flower and they communicated throughout their lives. In contrast, Snow Flower's life was harsh. I shudder to think of it. And I even shudder more when I think of the rift between them when they were in their thirties. Lily does something that she regrets for the rest of her life. The book, in fact, is told in the first person through the eyes of Lily, who lives on to old age.
The author, Lisa See, is part Chinese and has researched this novel impeccably. She even traveled to rural China and interviewed many people, including experts on the secret writing. Times have changed and Chinese women no longer bind their feet, but interviews with elderly women regarding this practice as well as marriage rituals and food preparation add the essential authenticities that are the basic building blocks of this book.
I absolutely LOVED this book. And although I know that it will appeal mostly to women, I know it would add to everyone's understanding of a culture that is no more, and a lifestyle which once defined China.
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