Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
by Lisa See
I cried at the end of this book, not because of the brutality of it. It was because of the sincere love we have for the sisterhood of women around us.
It is about the Chinese culture and foot binding of the women there. They called their feet their “golden lilies.” Reading about her foot binding made me nauseas, but that was the culture. It was the way of life. Brutal to me, a sign of culture and class to them. Who am I to judge? What I have done all in the name of beauty?
The book is about two best friends, promised to each other at the age of seven. They grow old together. They share in each others lives, even when class distinctions keep them apart. They love and take care of each other.
They were two mandarin ducks. They were placed together to build each other up.
“I read her our contract, reminding her how we had gone to the Temple of Gupo and bought the red paper, sat down together, and composed the words. I read again the letters we had sent each other. I read happy parts from our fan. I hummed old melodies from our childhood. I told her how much I loved her and said I hoped she would be waiting for me in the afterworld. I talked her all the way to the edge of the sky, not wanting her to go yet yearning to release her into the clouds.”