Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

By Lisa See

This book kept me up at night. Literally. The story of Lily and Snow Flower’s laotong relationship is haunting, beautiful, and heartbreaking.

The story, told from Lily’s point of view, takes place in nineteenth-century China, in a remote Hunan county. Lily, a daughter from a poor family, is paired with Snow Flower as a laotong, an “old same.” This emotional relationship is sealed with a contract and will last a lifetime. For women, considered less valuable than men, this relationship was often stronger than a marriage relationship.

The book follows Lily and Snow Flower through the painful days of footbinding into their engagements and marriages into different villages. They celebrate over the births of sons together and watch their children grow.  Because of Lily’s perfectly bound feet, her “golden lotuses,” she married into a prominent wealthy family. Snow Flower did not marry well. These differences, as well as others, set the stage for a pivotal misunderstanding that rends their laotong relationship.

I learned more about Chinese history in this novel than I ever have up to this point in my life. Lisa See skillfully walked the delicate balance between too little historical detail and too much. I was effectively and believably put in the mind of a woman living in nineteenth-century China. I was able to understand the strong tide of tradition that swept girls of good breeding into a life of bound feet. I nodded sympathetically as I began to understand why women accepted their helpless fates at the hands of their in-laws and their husbands, and I was intrigued by the secret women’s writing called nu shu.

I really don’t have much in the way of criticism for this book. I guess it was a little somber for the mood I was in when I first started reading it. It was sad. But it was also beautiful. See? I’ve got nothing.

The adult book club that I lead at our library will be discussing this book next weekend, and I’m eager to hear what they have to say about it. I highly recommend Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. I would love to hear what you say about it too!

Visit Lisa See online