Lisa See - Peony in Love

Peony has neither seen nor spoken to any man other than her father, a wealthy Chinese nobleman. Nor has she ever ventured outside the cloistered women's quarters of the family villa. As her sixteenth birthday approaches she finds herself betrothed to a man she does not know, but Peony has dreams of her own.
Her father engages a theatrical troupe to perform scenes from The Peony Pavilion, a Chinese epic opera, in their garden amidst the scent of ginger, green tea and jasmine. 'Unmarried girls should not be seen in public,' says Peony's mother, but her father allows the women to watch from behind a screen. Here, Peony catches sight of an elegant, handsome man and is immediately bewitched. So begins her unforgettable journey of love, desire, sorrow and redemption.

Comment: This is the third book by Lisa See I read. I have liked the previous ones I've tried and I had hopes for this one as well.

In this historical fiction story, Peony is a young girl, about to turn 16 which means she will be married soon. Peony has lived all her life in seclusion, among the other women in the house but she feels privileged when her father says yes to the performance of a play she loves in their garden. The play is loved by many but it is also known to evoke feelings of love sickness in young girls, which Peony would not think she would emulate but that night she glimpses and talks to a young man for the first time, with the exception of her father. She knows this is forbidden but they seem to get along well and in the following days, she meets this man again. However, her mother notices she was missing and decides to lock her up, so her reputation can be saved. But Peony is in love and using the play as her source of inspiration, decides to use her confinement to write. However, something terrible is about to happen and Peony might be too late to avoid it...

It can be tricky to try to summarize this book. I've read the blurbs for the different editions and some sort of ruin part of the plot I think... I had not read that before and when the plot went a certain direction, it was still surprising, which I think is more interesting than already knowing what will happen, even if it's at an early stage of the book.

This is an historical, the setting is in that apparently catastrophic moment when the Ming Dynasty ends and the new emperor begins his reign (17th century). This is a moment of many changes for China, in some areas more than others, but culturally the base isn't that different and, for the purposes of this novel, the basics are these: women and men have their roles, the men make the decisions and it is desired that women learn to obey, they have their own hierarchy in the house and when a young girl marries, she becomes part of her new husband's family.

The author includes a lot of cultural elements, as expected, and the story feels richer and more intense because of that. It isn't possible for most characters to simply decide and act, there is a lot to be considered and the fact we get to understand some of these rules, these cultural norms, makes what happens even more dramatic, for what makes sense to our contemporary notions and beliefs, plus the western POV also, turns the events of this story into something something sometimes unbelievable or if it's so outdated that it can't be easy to think of it as real.

The plot itself isn't too complicated, basically Peony falls in love but life and society forbid her from acting on her new feelings in a way that would maintain her reputation and that of her family, intact. This might sound too weird but it isn't a novelty when it comes to stories about many Asian countries/cultures and I think all the details included were well chosen, to better convey these aspects. Perhaps, what might make this a more bizarre story is the inclusion of The Peony Pavilion play. This is a real Chinese literary work, which has seduced many readers/poets/literary experts through time and the author used it as the base for this fictional book.

However, the use of the play can give the book a sort of dreamlike feel, and the addition of how the Chinese see their afterlife with all the traditions and little continuous things one has to do when rituals are being done, can make the book feel a bit too confusing and too bizarre. I think the author did a good job trying to portray the importance of the play for this story and for Chinese culture but thinking of this as a purely entertaining level, I can understand why it wouldn't be easy for some readers to remain focused on what was happening.

As per the best (or should I say, better known) Chinese tales or stories, there's a lot of heartbreak and unfair situations and impossible odds to overcome. I've felt the heaviness of this story's drama and I felt sorry for Peony and some of the "lessons" she has to learn during her journey, but in a way that is what makes it worthwhile when she finally realizes that happiness and dreams don't have to exist for one's selfish reasons only, sometimes the beauty of life and tradition is on how we can help others and how our actions can make us feel good too, and at peace with ourselves.

Grade: 7/10

Lisa See - The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane

In their remote mountain village, Li-yan and her family align their lives around the seasons and the farming of tea. For the Akha people, ensconced in ritual and routine, life goes on as it has for generations—until a stranger appears at the village gate in a jeep, the first automobile any of the villagers has ever seen.
Slowly, Li-yan, one of the few educated girls on her mountain, begins to reject the customs that shaped her early life. When she has a baby out of wedlock she rejects the tradition that would compel her to give the child over to be killed, and instead leaves her, wrapped in a blanket with a tea cake tucked in its folds, near an orphanage in a nearby city.
As Li-yan comes into herself, leaving her village for an education, a business, and city life, her daughter, Haley, is raised in California by loving adoptive parents. Despite her privileged childhood, Haley wonders about her origins. Across the ocean Li-yan longs for her lost daughter. Over the course of years, each searches for meaning in the study of Pu’er, the tea that has shaped their family’s destiny for centuries.

Comment: I had this book in the pile since 2017 but once more, only years later did I get to pick it, which means, in average, the status of a book "to be read" in my pile is quite long...

I had liked another book by the author years ago, and that was mostly why I had this to be read but the idea of two women from different generations being separated and, perhaps, meeting again, seemed intriguing...

In this book, which starts around 1988, we have the story of Li-yan, a young girl who is born at the Yunnan province in China, home to several different tribes and also some of the best tea in China. As Li-yan grows, we get to see her learning and both loving and dreading her family's life traditions, as well as her desire to improve herself and see different things. Everything seems to follow a pattern, as dictated by Chinese culture, but Li-yan's life has a turn when she gets pregnant without being married. From that on, and after a decision she feels she has to take, once again her life has a new turn and she wonders if she will ever be free of constrictions. But life still has some surprises for her, especially when she realizes her family's region and its tea can be the solution for many of the problems which have surrounded the previous generations. But will Li-yan succeed when she feels she committed a mistake by leaving her child?

I really liked reading this book. It's one of those situations where I can see why some might not like it, or why I can excuse some minor details I'd change while, overall, I have enjoyed reading about the big picture. Somehow, this story captivated me and made me eager to keep reading.

I think my favorite element of the book is how it doesn't derail into tragedy mode. Even when things seem harsh and impossible or unfair, there was still a certain sense of calm which allowed me to read and not give in to despair over the problems the characters faced. In this aspect, I think this book was more successful than the other one I read by the author, which felt a little darker, less optimist.

Li-yan is the narrator and while I would have preferred third person, I feel she was such a likable heroine that I could easily overlook my preferences. She is a fighter, a good person, not perfect as seen as the "mistakes" she does, even though she thought she wouldn't fall into that trap, and she learns to rely on others, on trying her best to become more successful but at the same time, she also learns to accept the traditions and culture of her country and region, of her tribe, the Akha, but still defending some change in the things that don't feel as fair. I really liked how, at the end, an important part of her self journey was defending the honor of those who worked with tea in her region and wanted to preserve something special.

Li-yan's life wasn't easy, in fact there were some scenes which we could see would not lead to anything good, but like I said,t here's this sense of hope in the writing, which lulled me into reading and at some point I was actually sorry I had to interrupt reading for chores and such. The author also included the adoption theme, namely the fact many Chinese girls are adopted for several reasons, and how that affects the perception and experiences of both mothers and daughters. I think this subject was more a tool to present Li-yan in a conflicted situation, rather than a psychological and cultural study, so don't expect a comprehensive nor too complex treatment of it. For me, it was a good enough theme, but it was superficial, in the sense it worked in a very simple manner for pot purposes.

Another issue I liked was how the author inserted the tea as a cultural element of China and how it was/is done and there was also some technical and even financial information about this here and there, which shows the author investigated, gave some sense of contemporary knowledge to what was being described and allowed me to learn something and to look for images on google of the Yunnah province and of tea customs.

The end of the book had some cheesy scenes, a little bit too much of coincidences but in the big scheme of things, nothing  terrible enough (for me) to make the story feel weaker. As a matter of fact, I wish the author had inserted an epilogue at the end, because although I can imagine a lot and sometimes an idea/scene can work wonderfully, after such a warm tone in most of the novel, and more so towards the end of it, I would have loved something more detailed, allowing more obvious closure. Still, for me this was a very satisfying novel and I see myself re-reading my favorite emotional parts.

Grade: 9/10

Lisa See - Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Lily is haunted by memories–of who she once was, and of a person, long gone, who defined her existence. She has nothing but time now, as she recounts the tale of Snow Flower, and asks the gods for forgiveness.
In nineteenth-century China, when wives and daughters were foot-bound and lived in almost total seclusion, the women in one remote Hunan county developed their own secret code for communication: nu shu (“women’s writing”). Some girls were paired with laotongs, “old sames,” in emotional matches that lasted throughout their lives. They painted letters on fans, embroidered messages on handkerchiefs, and composed stories, thereby reaching out of their isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments.
With the arrival of a silk fan on which Snow Flower has composed for Lily a poem of introduction in nu shu, their friendship is sealed and they become “old sames” at the tender age of seven. As the years pass, through famine and rebellion, they reflect upon their arranged marriages, 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 lifelong friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart.

Comment: I got this book at a used books bookstore two years ago. I had heard good things about the author's work and as soon as I saw the book - in perfect conditions, should I say - I immediately saved it and bought it. I didn't know the story but the author's name was enough to convince me. Despite that, it has been waiting and waiting until this month where I finally added it to my reading list.

This is the story of Lily, a young Chinese girl who is destined to have a great future but to have that she will endure pain and sorrow and learn all the lessons only time can teach.

Lily lives during a time where respectful and decent girls had their feet bound to make them small and more attractive to possible husbands. She comes from a poor family but she is given the chance to enter a lifelong friendship with Snow Flower, a girl from a richer region and thus making her more interesting as a wife.

This is a story about customs, preconceived ideas, indecision between what's right and what's expected and the idea that there are things more important than appearances. But can Lily be the person everyone thinks she will end up being?

I was quite impressed with this novel. It's not easy to read when one compares to our own customs and way of life. It almost looks unbearable and tragic to think people used to believe that foot binding would make someone look more beautiful, especially if we think about our contemporary societies. I guess that, in one way, this was what stayed with me the longest...how something was considered important when people didn't have all the knowledge we do now and used that as a rule for something that shouldn't be that important.

The story is told from Lily's POV and some things aren't shown to us, but when Lily knows or learns it, we do to. I liked Lily as a narrator but it becomes obvious Lily isn't the most expressive of people and by her descriptions of her daily life and the difficulties she meets and deals with we realize she is the type of person to follow the rules in general. I usually like people/characters like her because to me the purpose isn't to see them change radically, but to be surprised by good things and how that can make them sweeter or stronger. In Lily's case, her need to be recognized by her value and "good deeds", even if against what common sense dictates, make her sometimes too rigid. I understand why and how the author wanted to make her the focus so we could judge everyone else according to her, while Lily isn't perfect herself. But often her attitude seemed superficial and I felt like telling her to smile more, to embrace the good things she had, even if to her they weren't many, or at least I wanted to see her be glad she was having all those feelings. But she was too narrow in some of her thinking.

Of course all this is connected with the plot and how her life long friendship with Snow Flower, someone to balance her, but who has different feelings, is living a different situation in terms of social context... I liked the relationship of the two, how close they were, and how beautifier some things are in a real friendship but the main purpose of this book is too evidence how apart people can be when they let their personal feelings interfere with things out of their control. I can't help thinking the pot could have been much happier and positive if only! But the point is to highlight the bad things, I think. When you simply bow to the pressure of living in a time and place where you had no rights. I think that if one can put aside all the rich historical aspects, the feminist in any woman would scream at what happening to those girls...

All in all, this was a great novel, it makes you think and wonder what would we do but the context is so far apart from anything we are used in our occidental and contemporary society that it almost reads like a fantasy. But it was a reality, it was part of China's History as a country and a society and that is shocking how people simply believed in things today we can't accept as anything but torture.

I'll be thinking about the plot a lot, because some situations were avoidable, but the goal here to to show us one possible outcome of what it really meant to be a free spirit in dire circumstances and not being able to simply move along....

Grade: 8/10