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The Resurrected Art of Nu Shu
In 19th century China the women in a remote Hunan county practiced a secret form of writing known only to and for each other. This secret writing was called nu shu. It was shared between women of the same families and taught from one generation to the next. Author Lisa See traveled to remote villages in China and found but one woman who could read this secret language. After much research, visiting and storytelling, she came back to Los Angeles and wrote a wonderful novel based on the practice of nu shu and the traditions of the laotong or "old sames". Old sames are girls who are selected by their mothers and matchmakers to be best friends for life. The depth of a laotong relationship far exceeds any other, even that of man and wife.
In Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, two rather unlikely but perfectly matched girls are brought together as "old sames" in Hunan County shortly before the Taiping Rebellion. Lily, a poor farmer's daughter, is matched with Snow Flower who descends from a wealthy and politically important family. The two girls have their feet bound simultaneously and Lily's become the smallest of any girl in the county, making her extremely marriageable. Her socially prominent in-laws pay a handsome price and as they grow up, Lily learns from Snow Flower how to behave like a lady of a wealthy house.
Snow Flower's fate is not as gilded and all that she learns from her rural laotong, Lily, is brought to bear in the ensuing years. The love they share is carefully written in nu shu on their secret fan through traditions of marriage, annual trips to the Temple of Gupo, childbearing, and years of hair-pinning, rice-and-salt and sitting quietly.
Can a laotong relationship survive the fates, the Taiping uprising, months in the cold mountains, social injustice, life, death and betrayal? Find out by reading this charming, warm and at times heartbreaking story of two simple girls living in a complicated time.
Unforgetable Story
Lisa See's Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a wonderful story that offers an opportunity to learn about a different culture. In rural 19th century China women's friendships lasted a lifetime. Husband and wife were usually not friends. Women created their own society and there were rules to obey. Lily, the narrator of the book, looks back on her 80 years. She tells of the foot binding and how difficult it was and how it changed a girl's life. Lily and Snow Flower become lifelong sworn friends at an early age, but their paths differ and and it causes both some heartbreak.
Unforgettable!!
I too, thought this was my favorite book of last year out of the 63 books I read. It was captivating from the beginning and I couldn't put it down. I recommend it to everyone I know. The story, character's and emotions still stay with me long after I've read and forgotten many other books!
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