Details
Synopsis
Lisa See's enthralling epic follows the descent of May and Pearl, two sisters living in Shanghai in the late 1930s, whose idyllic lives of luxury and glamour are irrevocably shattered after their parents sell them as brides to two Chinese-Americans. At first, the girls rebel against the decision and go into hiding, but they are soon discovered by the invading Japanese army, whose barbaric acts further traumatize them. They decide to seek their "husbands" in California, which leads to the arduous ordeal of immigration, where more bitter family secrets are revealed. The girls must then adapt and assimilate to postwar Los Angeles, where they settle into quiet lives as Chinese housewives, forced to work menial jobs and act as servants to their misanthropic men. This magnificent saga features historical insight and emotional impacts on every page, as Lisa See cements her status as the reigning master of American fiction with a Chinese theme.
| Size | | Length: | 314 pages | | Height: | 9.5 in | | Width: | 6.3 in | | Thickness: | 1.2 in | | Weight: | 21.6 oz |
Industry Reviews
"See's skillful plotting and richly drawn characters immediately draw in the reader, covering 20 years of love, loss, heartbreak and joy while delivering a sobering history lesson....[T]his is an accomplished and absorbing novel."
(03/23/2009)
"See is a gifted writer, and in SHANGHAI GIRLS she again explores the bonds of sisterhood while powerfully evoking the often nightmarish American immigrant experience."
(06/12/2009)
"If you're looking for one of those wonderful 'take me someplace exotic and unfamiliar' books for summer, you won't do better than SHANGHAI GIRLS...from novelist Lisa See....[She] masterfully weaves the intimate story of these sisters and their extended family with the larger tales of Chinese immigrants struggling to get along in an unfamiliar, often hostile new land."
(06/07/2009)
"[A] graceful, meticulous examination of the lives of two irrepressible sisters....Pearl and Meg, [who] are, through See's splendid depiction, sympathetic and fascinating characters....See, whose writing is as graceful as these 'beautiful girls,' pulls off another exceptional novel."
(06/21/2009)
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