Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

So so so so good. Incredibly good! 

This is a story about two women that keep a friendship going from the the time they were 7 until one of the dies. The friendship starts win the early 1800's in rural China.

I really enjoyed this novel, I got a history, culture lesson and a good story.  There were certain aspects of the story that made my stomach clench, foot binding!  That was an education! I really didn't understand what was involved and the reasons why it was even done.

The story starts with Lily, in her 80's, narrating her whole life.  She says that she can now tell the story because everyone is mostly dead so she wouldn't be bringing anyone shame.  I had a hard time with the story because there was hardly any dialogue, and I love dialogue.  She tells the story of how she and Snow Flower come to be life long friends, arranged by a local matchmaker, and the whole process of being "trained" to be wives. They became laotong, life-long pairs. Their relationship is supposed to be the closest of friendships ever, with contracts written at the age of 7.

Lily grows up in poverty and is taught how to take care of a home and everything that goes wit it.  Snow Flower comes from an affluent scholar family that has great social standing.  They trade knowledge to be able to secure good matches.  This works well for both of them, but once married their lives become very different and one of their husband's family prohibits the other from socializing with the other.  Status is very important to the citizens of the villages and everyone has a role to play.

A women's role during this time is invaluable but definitely not acknowledged, by anyone, not even to themselves.  A mother will tell her daughters how worthless they are, then she goes to her husband's home and and is told by her mother-in-law that she is worthless. A pregnant woman prays that she will not have a girl because they know how hard their loves will be and also because they are worried about themselves. Her only value is to produce sons, the household believe that feeding girls them is a waste of resources.  Although this was one of the most engaging parts of the story, it was also one of the most disturbing. The relationship between Lily and her mom hurt me.  I found this to be more hurtful than the footbinding. No wonder these girls sought solace with eachother. 

I would definetly read more Lisa See novels.