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Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
 
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Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (Paperback)

by Lisa See (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
RRP: £10.99
Price: £8.49 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Snow Flower and the Secret Fan + Peony in Love + The Last Empress
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  • This item: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

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    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

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Product details

  • Paperback: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (2 Jan 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0747580669
  • ISBN-13: 978-0747580669
  • Product Dimensions: 23 x 15.2 x 2.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 199,689 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review
'Lisa See has written her best book yet. SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN is achingly beautiful, a marvel of imagination of a real and secret world that has only recently disappeared. It is a story so mesmerizing the pages float away and the story remains clearly before us from beginning to end' Amy Tan 'The story of a secret civilisation of women, who actually lived in China not long ago Magical, haunting fiction. Beautiful' Maxine Hong Kingston 'As both a suspenseful and poignant story and an absorbing historical chronicle, this novel has bestseller potential and should become a reading group favourite as well.' Publishers Weekly 'Only the best novelists can do what Lisa See has done, to bring to life not only a character but an entire culture. An engrossing and completely convincing portrayal of a woman shaped by suffering and the friendship that helps her to survive.' Arthur Golden, author of Memoirs of a Geisha

The Times
'Ladies, buy two copies of this wonderful book, and give one to your dearest friend.'

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81% buy the item featured on this page:
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Customer Reviews

33 Reviews
5 star:
 (22)
4 star:
 (8)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (33 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Hauntingly beautiful story, 15 April 2006
By kimbofo (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   
This is a gorgeous, heart-breaking tale of love and loss set in nineteenth century China. It follows the friendship between two young girls who are paired together from the age of seven in an arrangement known as laotong, an emotional match that lasts an entire lifetime.

Lily, the narrator, and her "old same", Snow Flower, live in separate villages in a remote county, one girl is rich and the other poor.

In a society where women are regarded as worthless, the girls find solace in their special bond by communicating with one another using a unique exclusively female language called nu shu, writing secret messages on a silk fan that is carried backwards and forwards between them.

Over the course of their lives they share everything despite the vast differences in their social standing. Both of them confront all kinds of agonies - footbinding, arranged marriages, family tragedies, disease, famine and war - and experience great joys - the birth of children, wedding feasts and festivals. But when a misunderstanding arises between them, their lives are changed forever.

Like the very best novels, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is not only an unforgettable and entertaining story (I read it in two sittings), it introduces us to a fascinating world few of us could possibly imagine, much less understand. While I knew about the existence of footbinding, an old Chinese custom which is no longer legal, I was not aware of the process or the history behind it until reading this book. It is easy for us today to think of this custom as cruel and abusive, which it undoubtedly was, but See has written this book so convincingly it is hard to feel anything but empathy for the girls who endured it and the mothers who carried it out.

This lovely, straightforward narrative also reveals much about how women lived their lives at that time in history, how important it was to give birth to a heir and why the shape of their feet determined their future wealth and happiness.

All in all this is a beautiful read about friendship, regret, atonement and survival. I was sorry to reach the final page and will be thinking about this story for years to come, I am sure.
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars All women, please read, 27 Jan 2006
By Rosalind (England) - See all my reviews
This is one of the most unforgetable books I've ever read, and I've read several books a week for 50 years! There are many books about China, but this one is based on a custom I had never heard about, that of two young girls binding themselves to each other for life at a very early age. They communicate using a secret language known only to women and meet only rarely.
If you have ever thought your life was difficult, reading this will make you realise how very much more difficult, controlled and full of physical and mental pain were the lives of Chinese women until fairly recently. As a little girl the heroine was allowed outside unfettered only once. Repeatedly told girls were absolutely worthless and unloved by anyone except her sworn friend, her feet are agonizingly bound and she is married to a man she has never seen.
Beautiful and interesting though the descriptions of the culture are, the main theme of the book is the unfolding story of the attachment of the two girls (as the title suggests). The final chapters will live with you for a long time.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Poignant tale, 20 April 2007
By Laura Smith (New York) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (Paperback)
"Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" is a suspenseful and poignant novel set in nineteenth century China at a time when foot-binding was practiced and women were kept secluded.

Two women in Hunan province establish a deep friendship as laotongs, "old sames." These are girls that are paired off with each other in a friendship that can last a lifetime. Their bond grows over the years as they struggle with famine, unrest, arranged marriages and motherhood. Their close friendship is threatened when misunderstanding arises between them.

This book offered a glance into women's life in nineteenth century China in an absorbing story. I recommend this book along with The Tenderness of Wolves and Nexus: A Neo Novel.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Something different.
A breath of fresh air!! Well written, takes u right there to another world.
Published 16 days ago by G. L. Riley

5.0 out of 5 stars Painful and beautiful reading.
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5.0 out of 5 stars f You Need Forgiveness, Seek it Now, Before it's too Late
It is 1903, Lily Yi is eighty years old and writing her life story. When she finishes the pages will be burned, so that the flames will carry her story to her ancestors in the... Read more
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5.0 out of 5 stars WONDERFUL, FABULOUS AND MAGNIFICENT READ!

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4.0 out of 5 stars Secret is out!
Lisa See has a way with words, and it is a beautiful way...


Its a beautiful book that i bought and read in 2 days and recently read again... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Isabel Maria A. Alves

5.0 out of 5 stars I could not put it down.
It took me exactly five hours to read it, it is an absolutely beautiful book portraying the customs of the chinese cultures focusing on the women and how they lived their lives or... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Halima Humaid

1.0 out of 5 stars dreamy rubbish
If you're looking for something like Memoirs of a Geisha (which was a lovely story that became overly romantic in the last section) then this book is not it. Read more
Published 11 months ago by realreader

4.0 out of 5 stars A great insight into life in China years ago
I must say, I don't normally do it, but I picked this book to read as I loved the cover. I didn't really know what it was about but decided to give it a go. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Book worm

4.0 out of 5 stars "A true lady lets no ugliness into her life. Only through pain will you have beauty."
The two lines of my title for this review, I think, quite aptly sums up what is at the heart of SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Brida

5.0 out of 5 stars Emotional fiction, that reads like a memoir.
A very descriptive memoir style fictional account about the role of women in C19 Chinese Society; where friendships among the women were of great importance. Read more
Published 16 months ago by LindyLouMac

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