Shanghai Girls

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

322 pages. Published 2010

Amazon: 4 stars

Me: 5 stars

I fell in love with Lisa See’s writing in Snowflower and the Secret Fan.  It still remains one of my favorite books.  I picked up Shanghai Girls knowing I wouldn’t be disappointed. Sisters, May and Pearl live in luxury in Shanghai. Together they are painted and shown in local ads and living with servants in their father’s house. This all comes to an abrupt end when they discover the extent of their father’s gambling debt.  To save the family’s house and pay off his debt, their father arranged marriages for Pearl and May. At first, the girls don’t intend on following through with their marital obligations. But, when Japan invades China in 1937 they flee to Los Angeles where their new husbands live.  

The United States, and the sisters’ new family isn’t what they thought. Pearl and May spend the next twenty years loving, fighting, and protecting one another in the life they have made for themselves in the states.

Lisa See tells a fascinating story that integrates Chinese and American culture as it evolves through World War II and the threat of Communist China. Through the eyes of Pearl, See builds the lives of Pearl and May. The descriptive writing and strong character development puts the reader right in the story with the characters. Unfortunately for the reader, the story doesn’t end at the last page, but continues in See’s book Dreams of Joy, which I plan on reading.

You can purchase this book at Amazon, Barnes and Noble , or your local bookstore.