| | |  | Pocket Knives | Home » » » Shanghai Girls: A Novel | | | | | | | Description: | | BONUS: This edition contains a Shanghai Girls discussion guide and an excerpt from Lisa See's Dreams of Joy.
In 1937 Shanghai—the Paris of Asia—twenty-one-year-old Pearl Chin and her younger sister, May, are having the time of their lives. Both are beautiful, modern, and carefree—until the day their father tells them that he has gambled away their wealth. To repay his debts, he must sell the girls as wives to suitors who have traveled from Los Angeles to find Chinese brides. As Japanese bombs fall on their beloved city, Pearl and May set out on the journey of a lifetime, from the Chinese countryside to the shores of America. Though inseparable best friends, the sisters also harbor petty jealousies and rivalries. Along the way they make terrible sacrifices, face impossible choices, and confront a devastating, life-changing secret, but through it all the two heroines of this astounding new novel hold fast to who they are—Shanghai girls. | | | Product Details: | | | Average Customer Rating:
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Average Customer Review:
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394 of 406 found the following review helpful:
 A bit of a departure from earlier novels, but no less compellingMar 26, 2009
By Z Hayes
I'm a fan of Lisa See's two earlier novels, "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" and "Peony in Love", both of which were set in 19th and 17th century China respectively. In "Shanghai Girls", the author moves the setting of the novel to Shanghai and later to the US. Lisa See paints a vivid portrait of life in pre-World War II Shanghai and takes the reader on an unforgettable journey through the Japanese invasion of China and its aftermath.
The protagonists in this novel are two sisters - Pearl and May. Pearl is the older sister, born in the auspicious Year of the Dragon, yet frowned upon by her Baba [father] who dislikes her tall appearance. Pearl is also educated, having completed college, and is proficient in a few languages and dialects. In contrast, younger sister May, born in the Year of the Sheep, is shorter yet lovely, and has only managed to complete high school. Yet, for all Pearl's accomplishments, it is May that is the apple of her parent's eyes, and uses this partiality to her advantage. Both sisters live a life of privilege, yet they work as 'beautiful girls' posing for pictures used in ads and posters and earn a good living. This may appear surprising given their parent's conservative outlook [the girls' mother has bound feet], yet not altogether strange as later events bring to light the family's dire financial straits.
When the girls are told their father has huge debts and has decided to marry them off to a pair of brothers, Gold Mountain Men residing in LA [men who have left China to go to America to seek their fortunes, returning to find China Brides], they realize their days of freedom are over and decide to revolt. Unfortunately, the Japanese invasion of Shanghai puts an end to any of their plans. Fleeing the Japanese is not without its horrors and ultimately Pearl and May find themselves alone except for one another.
Even after leaving China, the pair find their situation is still dire as upon arrival in the United States, Pearl and May are detained on Angel's Island for months undergoing untold suffering. They finally meet their 'spouses' but life for the sisters still has many trials in store, and a secret shared between them threatens their future.
"Shanghai Girls" is a well-woven narrative that flows well and Lisa See credibly evokes the bond between two sisters, whose love for one another is strong, yet also fraught by rivalries. This is not just a story about siblings for it is also about the clash between East and West as the sisters struggle to find their footing in a new world, even as the bonds of their old world remain strong. Lisa See is truly a gifted author for being able to portray both the old world of 17th and 19th century China [as seen in Peony and Snow Flower] and the new as seen in "Shanghai Girls". Final verdict: a compelling read.
77 of 81 found the following review helpful:
Why, why, WHY?!Jul 31, 2009
By Melissa Niksic
I do not understand why gifted authors occasionally butcher what would otherwise be fantastic novels. Lisa See's "Shanghai Girls" starts off a bit slower than "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan," but I quickly became wrapped up in the tale of two sisters, May and Pearl, who work as beautiful girls (a.k.a. calendar models) in Shanghai, China, until their father goes bankrupt and decides to sell his daughters into arranged marriages with American husbands. Tragedy quickly befalls the girls, who flee war-stricken China and embark on a dangerous journey to America, where they struggle to build new lives for themselves and keep a dark secret buried from the people closest to them.
This is a wonderful book filled with dynamic history and rich characters. I was completely smitten with the novel and especially appreciated the way the author portrayed the iron-strong sisterly bond between Pearl and May. However, the book has no ending! I was all excited and worried about what was happening at the end of the book, and I turned the page eager to find out what would happen next, and I was stunned to be face to face with the author's acknowledgements! What a huge disappointment. I would have given this book five stars if not for that horrible lack of an ending. Lisa See better be busy writing a sequel to this book, or else I will remain seriously pissed off for a long time.
115 of 126 found the following review helpful:
Emotional RollercoasterApr 04, 2009
By NuJoi
"Create with me"
I was tired when I finished the book. It was one of those where I had to stay up one night to finish it because when I tried to put it down, the story kept turning over in my head. I had an honest like and dislike for some of the characters. I do have to admit that part of me kept wondering what else could go wrong as the story progressed.
The most striking thing about this book was that it is the first time that I, as an African-American, could feel the effects of discrimination against another people. The author is able to really make you feel what the characters feel. Additional kudos goes to the author for illustrating how dangerous it is to see things from only one point of view. Ever story has at least two sides.
Aside from wondering how much more hardship could possibly befall the family, I found the book to be an excellent read. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants a challenging read.
169 of 196 found the following review helpful:
 Not bad; not greatMay 05, 2009
By LawyerMom
I felt I had a duty to finish this advance copy in order to write an honest review about the novel. I can't say that it was pulling teeth to finish it. But I can't say that I would have finished it if I had simply checked it out of the library and had no obligation to review it on Amazon.
The writing is meh. You'll find that the author's major lacking is in the use of descriptors and imagery. While there was plenty of opportunity--from the Chinese cooking, to the sights of Shanghai, to the horrors of war and the trauma of rape, to the physical beauty of the women subjects--the author's descriptions could have been far more vivid and compelling than they actually were. The plot was not bad, but it was somewhat predictable. The flow of the story actually picked up a great deal towards the last 1/2 of the book, and towards the end, I was reading at a rapid clip b/c of the suspense. Unfortunately, the book ends with a pretty major cliffhanger, so it's obvious that the author probably has a sequel in mind for these characters.
If you want a better read on life in China during the pre-war period, I highly recommend Iris Chang's The Rape of Nanking which is compelling and heart-wrenching. If you want a great read on mother-daughter and sisterly relationships in the context of intergenerational and intercultural American-Chinese differences, I would greatly recommend just about anything by Amy Tan, whose characters and their relationships are so vividly narrated and rich, that I am often convinced that she is writing about my own Chinese mother and myself (a first generation Asian American woman). I particularly recommend Tan's The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God's Wife, and The Bonesetter's Daughter. Between Tan and Chang, I'm not entirely sure that Lisa See has a lot to offer a reader that's much different or better.
Nevertheless, one can see that a great deal of research and personal interviews went into the making of the novel, and it comes off as fairly genuine and well-conceived. I do also really like the author's angle of living as an illegal Chinese or even as a Chinese-American during the post-war Red Scare in the United States. I only wish that the narrative was more fleshed out.
28 of 30 found the following review helpful:
Would be 5 stars if not for the end...May 18, 2009
By Candy Beauchamp
"CandyTX"
The ending to a book can really ruin the story for me. I need things wrapped in a pretty little bow. This book had no bow. I realize the author left it open because there will obviously be a sequel to this book, but it feels like she met some pre-determined word count and just ended it. Too much of a cliffhanger and not enough closure. I think it was a bad choice (having said that, I will be reading the sequel for sure so I guess the author had her reasons, eh?)
The book is beautifully written. What I like about it the most is that it's a story with some history sprinkled in, it's not history with a story mixed in. I learned a few things about this era, but the biggest part of the book was dedicated to telling Pearl and May's story. I have to say that I didn't really like the characters at times, they seemed a little shallow and unbelievable. My favorite character, Sam (one of their husbands), was a secondary character and I felt more for him than the girls.
While the book was long, I felt there could have been deeper descriptions of the area, the dress, the people. It felt sometimes a little surface-writing like. It is evident that the author has a beautiful writing style, I like the way the words flow, I just wanted some more description in there.
I liked 99.9% of this book. I would venture to say I loved it, actually. But the ending ruined it for me. I seem to run into this more often, an abrupt and rude ending in books. It's really starting to be this odd trend. Readers have spent hours reading and absorbing the text, we need that big payoff at the end.
Definitely read this one, but just be prepared to wait to hear the end of story until the next book comes out.
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