Snow flower and the secret fan summary

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Rate this book. Buy This Book. A brilliantly realistic journey back to an era of Chinese history that is as deeply moving as it is sorrowful, this lyrical and emotionally charged novel delves into one of the most mysterious of human relationships: female friendship. 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".

Snow flower and the secret fan summary

Sign In Sign In. New Customer? Create account. Jump to Summaries 2 Synopsis 1 Edit. A story set in nineteenth-century China and focusing on the life-long friendship between two girls who develop their own secret code as a way to contend with the rigid social norms imposed on women. In 19th-century China, seven year old girls Snow Flower and Lily are matched as laotong - or "old sames" - bound together for eternity. Isolated by their families, they furtively communicate by taking turns writing in a secret language, nu shu, between the folds of a white silk fan. In a parallel story in present day Shanghai, the laotong's descendants, Nina and Sophia, struggle to maintain the intimacy of their own childhood friendship in the face of demanding careers, complicated love lives, and a relentlessly evolving Shanghai. Drawing on the lessons of the past, the two modern women must understand the story of their ancestral connection, hidden from them in the folds of the antique white silk fan, or risk losing one another forever. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, directed by Wayne Wang and takes place in the 19th century, has parallel time periods and there is around four or so time periods. First off there is these two girls, one of wealth and one of poverty, these girls are Snow Flower, who is of wealth, and Lily, who is of poverty. These girls have been born on the same day and in the same year. In present day there is two descendants of these girls and of the same class as their ancestors. Nina and Sophia are these other girls. In both time periods the two sets of girls have become laotongs, or old sames and in this bond between sisters they to learn this secret language of the women or nu shu.

The four small toes were broken and turned under and bound, then the arches were broken so the foot could be pulled straight with the leg.

Jump to ratings and reviews. Want to read. Rate this book. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Lisa See. As the years pass, Lily and Snow Flower send messages on fans, compose stories on handkerchiefs, reaching out of isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments.

These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own. Lily and Snow Flower are the main characters of the novel, and they live in a rural Chinese province. They live during the early and mid's, so many Chinese cultural aspects are still in place, because this was the time before Mao Zedong. Lily and Snow Flower maintain a very close friendship despite the fact that they are both girls. Both of them women, both Lily and Snow Flower have do deal with the things that are expected of women in China in this day and age. After all, Confucianism was a strictly patriarchal philosophy, and foot-binding was a common practice.

Snow flower and the secret fan summary

Historical Fiction. A language kept a secret for a thousand years forms the backdrop for an unforgettable novel of two Chinese women whose friendship and love sustains them through their lives. This absorbing novel — with a storyline unlike anything Lisa See has written before — takes place in 19th century China when girls had their feet bound, then spent the rest of their lives in seclusion with only a single window from which to see. Illiterate and isolated, they were not expected to think, be creative, or have emotions. They painted letters on fans, embroidered messages on handkerchiefs, and composed stories, thereby reaching out of their windows to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments. With the detail and emotional resonance of Memoirs of a Geisha , Snow Flower and the Secret Fan delves into one of the most mysterious and treasured relationships of all time—female friendship. The prose is elegant, the voice sure, the story unforgettable—at times punishing in its authenticity. The wonder of this book is that it takes readers to a place at once foreign and familiar— foreign because of its time and setting, yet familiar because this landscape of love and sorrow is inhabited by us all. Snow F lower and the Secret Fan is a triumph on every level, a beautiful, heartbreaking story.

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But despite my reservations, I got swept into the narrative. Lisa herself admitted she writes sad books. Rate this book. Spellbinding, unforgettable, and an important chronicle of modern China, The Bathing Women is a powerful and beautiful portrait of the strength of female friendship in the face of adversity. Excuse my sarcastic tone but I cannot wrap my head around how awful this part of Chinese history is. Brick Lane is also from a different cultural context, not China - however, it also deals with women's freedom and the woman's place in different cultures. In the first and last chapter, the narrator Lily reveals that she is dictating the story to Peony, the wife of her grandson, as a form of confession to her friend Snow Flower who is now in the afterworld. Todo lo bueno que me llegaba de esta novela era totalmente cierto. Renew your subscription to regain access to all of our exclusive, ad-free study tools. The main character not only repeated the indoctrination, she believed it!

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Snow Flower and the Secret Fan The girls learn how to behave as women and perform domestic duties, and Snow Flower, who knows the families that Lily and Beautiful Moon will marry into, tells them about their future husbands. Already have an account? Even with so much time to buffer my memories, I was still shocked and horrified anew. Log in Forgot Password. Lily's adherence to social customs can seem controversial to us today. During an event with Lisa last night, she spoke of how depressing writing can be. The book is a deep examination of Chinese culture of the era through the eyes of its women at a time when women were expected to be subservient to men and to produce sons. Within a minute I could relate their bond to affirmative action, the psychological rules of attraction, my own personal friendships, and much more. The butcher takes his grief out on Snow Flower and beats her until she miscarries. Snow Flower married a butcher and Lily had married a wealthy man. Name on Card. View Collection. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership.