by Noella Noelophile®
Great news! Lisa See has a new book coming out, according to her website.
She’s one of my favorite authors, with a gift for immersing readers in another time while giving them a firsthand look at Chinese culture through her likable, yet true-to-life, characters. She also speaks so believably in the first person that we can almost hear the women’s voices.
June 6th is the published release date for her new book, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women. You can bet I’m going to get a copy as soon as I can!
Meanwhile, I’m reading Dreams of Joy. And wholeheartedly recommend it.
Let me take a step back. If you haven’t read Shanghai Girls, you may want to read that first. Dreams of Joy is the sequel.
(Royalty-free image by cplz99atcsnilyk from Pixabay.)
Shanghai Girls explores a vanished world: glamorous Shanghai in the 1930s. Main characters Pearl and May are sisters–and models for “beautiful-girl” artist Z.G.
As the book begins, responsible, determined Pearl and reckless, kindhearted May seem to have had a charmed life. Young, beautiful, and with wealthy parents, their main concerns are whether the outfits they’re wearing are appropriate, as they pose for Z.G.’s poster and calendar renderings. Pearl, meanwhile, fancies herself in love with Z.G.–who seems to have eyes mainly for May.
But an undercurrent of change pervades their home–and China itself. Some of the luxurious furnishings have disappeared. Most of the servants have been dismissed. And their father anxiously announces, “I need to talk to you”. The sisters disregard him, preparing for their evening of work with Z.G.
And nationally, there’s talk of a revolution…
Change comes more immediately to May and Pearl. Upon their return home from the local cafe, they find their father waiting up for them. And he delivers a bombshell announcement that leaves the sisters shaken–and which will change their lives forever.
The story of May and Pearl as they navigate a world they never imagined makes for can’t-put-it-down reading. I don’t want to give too much away. However, I found the depiction of Los Angeles’ Chinatown of the 1930s and 1940s fascinating, and the skillful interweaving of Chinese culture in May and Pearl’s daily lives made me feel as though I’d just taken an international trip with friends.
Dreams of Joy continues the story–taking the reader into a new time period with the next generation.
I won’t spoil anything by telling you the relationship of the title character to the two sisters from Shanghai. However, at the start of Dreams of Joy, idealistic college student Joy is on her way to Mao Tse-Tung’s People’s Republic of China.
She’s on a dual mission.
Beyond her personal reason for the trip (again, no spoilers here!), Joy has been thoroughly indoctrinated with the Communist propaganda. So much so, that she’s highly enthusiastic about “helping to build the New China”.
(Royalty-free image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay.)
People she encounters at her first commune, Green Dragon Village, include Yong, an older woman whose bound feet prevent her from working sturdily in the fields; Kumei, a young mother; and Tao, a young man with a gift for art.
At first delighted to be a part of the “New Society”, Joy goes through her initial shock at the living conditions, through the brigade leader’s exhortations to work harder, to a gradual awakening to the reality of day-to-day life under Communism. Censorship, broken promises and hunger are all elements of her world in the “New China”. So is the biting cold as she and her fellow commune members spend the winter in a structure made of cornstalks, with paper over the windows.
Lisa See has done considerable research, and her details of daily life under the communist regime can make the reader almost see the stubby, over-planted fields or the murals painted on the walls of the commune’s leadership hall.
Shanghai Girls and Dreams of Joy are two of my favorites so far, from this favorite author. But when Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is published, this June, it may very well wind up on the same bookshelf.