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Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
A Novel
288 pages
A sweeping, emotionally devastating portrait of a lifelong female friendship forged in the crucible of a deeply restrictive society.
What it feels like
Reading this novel feels like unfolding a delicate, centuries-old artifact, revealing a world that is simultaneously beautiful and brutally claustrophobic. The narrative moves at a steady, reflective pace, immersing you entirely in the sensory details of nineteenth-century China—the rustle of silk, the scent of ink on a fan, and the agonizing reality of bound feet. It is a deeply intimate, melancholic reading experience that centers entirely on the hidden, interior lives of women and the fierce, sustaining power of their bonds. The prose is elegant and unflinching, carrying you through an emotional arc that swells from innocent devotion to heartbreaking misunderstanding and lifelong regret. It will profoundly move readers who gravitate toward sweeping, character-driven historical fiction that explores the agonizing sacrifices and quiet rebellions of women bound by tradition.
- Mood
- melancholic
- claustrophobic
- poignant
- atmospheric
- Tone
- reflective
- intimate
- sorrowful
- earnest
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- sustaining power of female friendship · cost of patriarchal traditions · regret and misunderstanding · hidden lives of women · resilience in confinement
- The writing
- Lyrical, historically immersive, and deeply sensory, rendering both beauty and brutality with unflinching grace.
- The arc
- Moves from the hopeful devotion of childhood friendship through the agonizing trials of womanhood, culminating in heartbreaking misunderstanding and poignant, regret-tinged reflection.
- Who it's for
- Readers who crave sweeping, emotionally devastating historical fiction centered on the complex, hidden inner lives and bonds of women.
Content notes
- graphic descriptions of foot binding
- infant mortality
- domestic abuse
- starvation
- grief
About the book
Lily is the daughter of a humble farmer in Yongming County, and to her family is just another mouth to feed until she can be married off. But when she is six years old she is brought before the ambitious local matchmaker who delivers some startling news: Lily is no ordinary girl. If they are bound properly, her feet will be flawless. In nineteenth-century China, where a woman's eligibility is judged by the shape and size of her feet, this is extraordinarily good luck. Lily now has the power to make a good marriage and change the fortunes of her family.But first she must undergo the agonies of footbinding, learn nu shu, the famed secret women's writing, and make a very special friend. A girl will be chosen as her 'old-same' which is a relationship almost akin to marriage and treated with as much seriousness.Her 'old-same', Snow Flower, is a wonder to Lily. She comes from a refined family and is elegant, educated, but cannot suppress her adventurous streak. Even though their worlds are far apart and they rarely see one another, the two girls develop a deep bond through their letters written in nu shu which they paint on fans and embroider on handkerchiefs. As the years go by, Lily and Snow Flower share the burden of being born female in feudal China and find comfort in their friendship until they come of age to be married. But a bitter reversal of fortune is about to change everything.Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a story of two extraordinary women surviving in a time of strict rules and ancient customs. With the eye of a historian and the vibrancy of a true storyteller, Lisa See has written a truly mesmerizing novel filled with colour, fascinating detail and heartfelt drama.
Description from Open Library.
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