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My best friend and I have been friends since we were nine-years-old. We met on the very first day of fifth grade. It was a warm, sunny September day and I wore black leather pants and a pink button down shirt with gold edged ruffles down the front. My bestfriend says that when she saw me, she knew that she would have to get to know me because what nine-year old comes to school in leather pants? We have been together for twenty-five years now. We are both Aquarians, born on the Dragon's tail almost a month apart in 1977. She is an inch and a half shorter than I am and we wear the same shoe size, although, I have inherited my father's narrow feet. She is more than a friend and more than a sister, she is my soul mate.
It is this type of relationship between women, built of love and friendship, that hooked me into Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. It tells the story of Lily and Snow Flower, two rural, nineteenth century Chinese girls who are contracted at the tender age of eight to be "laotong," old-sames. Laotong was a formal and rare relationship between women. It was a relationship that was "made by choice for the purpose of emotional companionship and eternal fidelity." Unlike sworn sisters, the relationship was exclusive and lasted through marriage, childbirth, and widowhood. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan follows Lily and Snow Flower through lives filled with love and hardship. It explores the nature of love, fate, friendship, women, and their place in a patriarchal society that values boy children above all else.
The book is divided into four parts, with the first and last chapters acting as bookends for the story. It is told in the first person by Lily who has outlived Snow Flower and all of the people most likely to be affected by the truths and tragedies of the past. At eighty-years-old, Lily is writing her history in "nu shu," a secret women's writing. She details the binding of her feet at age seven, her introduction and contractual attachment to Snow Flower as laotang,their marriages, and the revelation of some painful secrets as Lily faces her weaknesses and complicity in events far removed from the present.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a gentle read. I don't know how else to describe it. It is lovely and lovingly written. Lily and Snow Flower are as much the same as they are different, their natures, stations and perspectives on life existing in tension with the philosophies of the day. They both struggle with reconciling their desires and expectations for life with the realities of being born women in a patriarchal society. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a haunting and fascinating look into the world of women. Lisa See does a marvelous job with reflecting the aesthetics of the world she is writing about in the tone and imagery of the novel. The ending is sad, but makes a beautiful sort of sense. Although, I feel that it was a little too pat and lost much of the novel's gorgeous complexity by attempting to tie up loose ends and justify the ending of the story. My issues with the ending don't detract from my overall enjoyment of the book. I really loved the depiction of women's relationship and the way that the author invests so much emotion and heart in the telling. It is unique to read about women's relationships that have less to do with men, in fact, the men in the novel take a mostly peripheral role to the lives of the women. The book is all about Lily and Snow Flower.
The other thing that I really liked is the way that See does not condemn the society that she is writing about. Too often the tendency is to make a judgement on the society that is being explored. Whether it is through the insertion of characters "born in the wrong time" or ahead of their time, or if it is more explicitly condemnations made in exposition, it is difficult not to compare the past and present. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan avoids that trap. Life is what it is, and the commentary that is being made is nestled in the traditions that existed during the time. The characters resist, but are pulled into the trap of their lives by the expectations of the society they live in. The book is not about social change, however,that is the world of men and the outer realm. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a book about women and the inner realm, the nuances of their interior lives and the limits of the narrative are suited to the story that See is telling.
It is this type of relationship between women, built of love and friendship, that hooked me into Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. It tells the story of Lily and Snow Flower, two rural, nineteenth century Chinese girls who are contracted at the tender age of eight to be "laotong," old-sames. Laotong was a formal and rare relationship between women. It was a relationship that was "made by choice for the purpose of emotional companionship and eternal fidelity." Unlike sworn sisters, the relationship was exclusive and lasted through marriage, childbirth, and widowhood. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan follows Lily and Snow Flower through lives filled with love and hardship. It explores the nature of love, fate, friendship, women, and their place in a patriarchal society that values boy children above all else.
The book is divided into four parts, with the first and last chapters acting as bookends for the story. It is told in the first person by Lily who has outlived Snow Flower and all of the people most likely to be affected by the truths and tragedies of the past. At eighty-years-old, Lily is writing her history in "nu shu," a secret women's writing. She details the binding of her feet at age seven, her introduction and contractual attachment to Snow Flower as laotang,their marriages, and the revelation of some painful secrets as Lily faces her weaknesses and complicity in events far removed from the present.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a gentle read. I don't know how else to describe it. It is lovely and lovingly written. Lily and Snow Flower are as much the same as they are different, their natures, stations and perspectives on life existing in tension with the philosophies of the day. They both struggle with reconciling their desires and expectations for life with the realities of being born women in a patriarchal society. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a haunting and fascinating look into the world of women. Lisa See does a marvelous job with reflecting the aesthetics of the world she is writing about in the tone and imagery of the novel. The ending is sad, but makes a beautiful sort of sense. Although, I feel that it was a little too pat and lost much of the novel's gorgeous complexity by attempting to tie up loose ends and justify the ending of the story. My issues with the ending don't detract from my overall enjoyment of the book. I really loved the depiction of women's relationship and the way that the author invests so much emotion and heart in the telling. It is unique to read about women's relationships that have less to do with men, in fact, the men in the novel take a mostly peripheral role to the lives of the women. The book is all about Lily and Snow Flower.
The other thing that I really liked is the way that See does not condemn the society that she is writing about. Too often the tendency is to make a judgement on the society that is being explored. Whether it is through the insertion of characters "born in the wrong time" or ahead of their time, or if it is more explicitly condemnations made in exposition, it is difficult not to compare the past and present. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan avoids that trap. Life is what it is, and the commentary that is being made is nestled in the traditions that existed during the time. The characters resist, but are pulled into the trap of their lives by the expectations of the society they live in. The book is not about social change, however,that is the world of men and the outer realm. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a book about women and the inner realm, the nuances of their interior lives and the limits of the narrative are suited to the story that See is telling.
