Si os digo que este libro, es uno de los mejores libros de amor que he leido, si, de amor, porque, aunque la novela trate muchos temas, uno de los principales es el amor entre Flor de Nieve y Lirio Blanco. La novela estará narrada por Lirio Blanco, que nos contará su vida desde su infancia hasta su vejez.
Como digo la historia estará contada por Lirio Blanco, que a través de sus palabras conoceremos las tradiciones, la cultura de la época, nos daremos cuenta del papel que tiene la mujer en la sociedad, una sociedad muy patriarcal. Y ya os adelanto, que una mujer valía algo si era capaz de tener hijos, pero hijos varones, por supuesto. Nos narra, como se trataba a las mujeres que solo tenían hijas, como eran tratadas por esclavas, como las vendían...
Uno de los temas que mas llaman la atención de este libro, es el vendado de los pies de las mujeres, un tema que no tenia ni idea y que he aprendido un montón, un tema que se prohibió ( porque es una autentica barbaridad, y podéis buscar fotos) aunque en sitios mas rurales se siguió practicando hasta avanzado el siglo XX. Y es que es una práctica de todas las mujeres unica y exclusivamente para ser mas atractivas a los hombres, para ser mejores, para tener mas oportunidades con los hombres. algo que me parece totalmente inhumano, de hecho, con esta práctica morían muchas niñas, y no por ello dejaba de hacerse.
Otro tema que esta presente durante toda la novela, es el nu-shu, un lenguaje secreto que usaban únicamente las mujeres, y lo usaban para poder comunicarse entre ellas, para intentar "escapar" de todo lo que vivian con los hombres. Nuestra protagonista, lo usó cada día con su alma gemela, para poder tener noticias suyas, sin que los hombres sospecharan.
Como ya he dicho el tema del amor entre nuestras dos protagonistas este presente durante toda la novela, ambas se conocen desde pequeñas, y sus familias las unen como "almas gemelas" o "laotang", crecerán juntas, iremos como aumenta el amor entre ellas, incluso estando casadas...
En conclusión es un libro para aprender sobre esta cultura que es alucinante, un libro que no se te va a olvidar tan facilmente, y que como en otra ocasión recomiendo mucho a esta autora.

This was just OK for me. I never felt the slightest semblance of hope. And I also always felt at arms length from the characters. I never felt truly connected to them.

n   A book is a magical thing, that lets you travel to far-away places without ever leaving your chair. n Quote by Katrina Mayer.
This week I have time travelled to nineteenth-century China, 1970s Texas, 1850s Louisiana and at the moment I am on a whistle stop tour with A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom by John Boyne and no 2 week isolation required when I return.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is my second novel by Lisa See having read Shanghai Girls a couple of years ago.

Set in Nineteenth Century China and is the story of Lily an 80 year old woman who at the age of seven is paired with a laotong “old same” in an emotional match that will last a lifetime.
Her story is that of a secret world of writings that women shared and ancient Chinese customs of foot binding.

An emotional and fascinating read and you cant help get drawn into the characters lives. I love when a book educates as well as entertains a reader and this novel has a lot of detail on Chinese customs and culture which I really enjoyed.

A short book that really held my attention and another book for my real life book shelf.

Well researched and beautifully written. This story has a very authentic feel, which unfortunately also makes it rather sad. It sickens me to think how so many women over so many centuries were taught that they were worthless and forced to endure such abuse and degradation. Women are the givers of life. Those men wouldn't be here if it weren't for the women who birthed them. Aaargh, I'd better not get started on a rant.

This is a very worthwhile book and gave me a good picture of life in rural China in the mid-19th century. I learned a lot about Chinese culture. I had no idea before reading this story of what actually went into the whole foot binding tradition.

I was a little surprised at myself that I cried a couple of times close to the end of the story. Sign of a good storyteller, I guess.

This has got to be one of the most beautiful, yet heartbreaking books that I have ever read. The subject matter is horrific but the story is truly engaging.

The main storyline in this book is about the horrible patriarchal practise, foot-binding, that took place in China in the past. The graphic descriptions in this book are certain to turn anyone’s stomach. I would like to know who decided that 7 centimetre-long feet were “sexy.” The obsession with feet truly perplexed me; how could young men know nothing about their future betrothed wives except what size their feet were? Obviously foot-binding was a practice to control women, which was a point I made to a feminist I was talking to when a man suddenly interrupted our conversation and accused us of waging a war against men!

Also, it’s so sad how culturally women were undervalued in Chinese society. They suffered so much abuse and, from a very young age, they were cultivated for marriage because, after all, all women were good for was for giving birth to sons. Everything they did was to prepare them for marriage yet when they eventually married their in-laws weren’t even satisfied and everyone was miserable. What’s the point? Excuse my sarcastic tone but I cannot wrap my head around how awful this part of Chinese history is. Instead of protecting women in society, women were made to feel worthless and their lives are also put into peril. It was truly heartbreaking.

Lisa See brilliantly captured the reality of Chinese life in the past. I also thought that part of the book about the laotang and sisterhood was lovely, as well as the parts about the secret writing, and the art of storytelling.

Definitely a great book but not one that I’d ever read again, it’s too distressing.

المرأة كشيء عديم القيمة هكذا كانت ما بين القرن 19وحتى 1951 وقيمتها لا تتعدى أنجاب الأبناء الذكور
ولا أدري كيف اخترعت تلك الثقافة مسألة ربط أقدام الطفلات الصغيرات حتى تتكسر أصابعهن فقط لأجل الحصول على أقدام صغيرة ومثيرة
وما أثار دهشتي أن قيمة المرأة تكمن في حجم قدمها وليس في حسن وجهها وحسب !
على كلٍ الرواية مختلفة ومميزة بحديثها عن روابط الصداقة الحقيقية وكيف أن روابط الصداقة يتطلب اختيارها بدقة وعناية وتكون بعضها للأبد .
أعجبتني ... وأنصح بها .

On my 13th birthday, I was furiously handed a copy of Amy Vanderbilt's New Complete Book of Etiquette: The Guide to Gracious Living as my desperate cries for Madonna’s Erotica album were sternly dismissed. Phrases of "Learn to behave like a lady" and "Beauty comes from pain", swayed alongside numerous sermons on feminine mannerisms that became a major part of my teenage life. The former was courteously bestowed advising as to how a bra was essentially an undergarment and not a lacy billboard (Hey! I say blame Madonna!), likewise when the resonance of my beer burps would put a bull horn to shame. The latter was peculiarly used by a genteel woman who tried waxing my legs for the first time and ended up being kicked out of her chair. I certainly showed her the "beauty of my pain". Over the years, my grandma’s constant remarks(or 'blessings' as she would term it) on how it was important to be a dutiful wife to a husband and bear him a son was spitefully argued by me threatening dire consequences if she did not shut her mouth. Now, when I sometimes think of it, I regret of not giving a chance to understanding her frame of mind or the environment which she was raised in. My grandmother grew up humbly in the 1920s with disciplinary feminine etiquettes given a higher preference over academia, whereas I was nurturing on a steady diet of Beverly Hills 90210 & Co. Our worlds were separated through an entire generation and I could never comprehend her anxiety towards my adulthood.

Lisa See speaks of an earlier communal generation our evolved minds scorn or laugh away without giving a chance for a valid rationalization. It was a sisterhood sworn for life where happiness and sadness were shared through a secret language in an era, where ‘fate was predestined’ and ‘golden lilies’ were not flowers but an agonizing ordeal bound by austere customs. Lily who was born in the third year of the Emperor Daoguang’s sovereignty (1823) was the second daughter of a modest farmer.To brighten her prospects of finding a prosperous groom Lily’s first break from tradition came through a her laotong or same old- Snow Flower from Tongkou county. Snow Flower would now be Lily’s soul sister forming an undying bond of sisterhood sharing their life, desolations, joy and pledging loyalty to each other through nu-shu, a clandestine language exclusively learned to share their innermost grievances. From the tender age of seven, both these girls evenly obeyed customary rituals, right from bearing the treacherous process of foot-binding to a dedicated living after their marriages and heartbreaking miscarriages. As observed in the book, the story seems to be an outright semi-autobiographical sketch of Lily Lu. Contrary, this overwhelming portrayal is solely about Snow Flower and her altruistic allegiance to Lily as her laotong. The relation between these two women speaks volumes of a philosophical friendship formed through secret scriptures carved on a fan acting as link in a world where women were not allowed to love but comply with the concept of obligatory love that came with their designated roles of a daughter, wife, mother and finally as the matriarchal head of the family.

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Lisa See manages to bring forth various staunch customs that were a stubborn part of a culture centuries ago. The inhumane(as I assert my belief) tradition of foot-binding that required fastening the feet of a young girl into a form of a lotus bud restricting the length to seven centimeters for the reason that the “golden lilies” (feet) were a mark of magnificence and its aptness was a standing for forthcoming prosperities. Debatably, inflexible rituals were a part of any culturally strong society prevailing over hundreds of years proclaiming the belief that women were meant to suffer as they were insignificant individuals to their natal families and at most times seen as a mere vessel to carry a male progeny. Several derogating customs imposed on women throughout centuries like child marriages, foot-binding, insulting display of conforming virginities, dowry regulations and many more have fortunately been banished from the current evolved civilization. The one I am extremely curious about is the  Burmese Long Neck Women of the Kayan tribe abiding the tradition of compactly casing a brass coil around their necks to attain 'Giraffe necks' associated with beauty. Although most of them have been banished from the law of the land yet, a few have escaped the judicial eye occurring in many ethnic tribal regions of the global panorama. Female genital mutilation to speak of still thrives in the deep pockets of the African sub-continent whereas female infanticide resulting through pressure of birthing a male heir and concealed dowry deaths still see the daylight in rural Indian landscapes. Let alone vast cases of domestic abuse utilized to confirm the marital dominance. O boy! Before my inner feminist crosses the edge of civility, let me move further with this review.




The significant practice of nu shu as a communicative pathway disappeared with future generations and its traces can now only be found in the memories of elderly ladies. Reading this book made stop to reflect on the rearing of my grandmother wrapped up in customary obligations of compact arranged marriages, the responsibility of bearing a son and the preferences given to her several brothers over the girls. I can’t even imagine going beyond her mother’s generation and the suffrage women endured in the name of tradition.

Lisa See always manages to hit close to home with all her narrations, fortunately not intimately. The book is an absolute page-turner because it not only restrict you from putting it down but empathize a noble sisterhood defining the loyalty of a selfless love in an era where rigidity of foot-binding swallowed up one’s heart.

I am finally done with 11 long hours of listening and I am still reeling from the aftertaste the book has left in my mouth. Heart wrenching yet appealing. Oh!

Right from the beginning, the book held me steadfast. The story of a 80 year old reminiscing about her life, and such an interesting one at that. I inhaled the smell of China, its history, foot-binding procedure and many other obligations one has to go through as a woman in China.

But my favorite part and character was Snow Flower - the journey of a beautiful 8 year old girl who talked a lot, spoke her mind and tried to tweak the traditions a bit to a place in time when she grew timid, subordinating to the needs of her husband and mother-in-law.

The book recounts a heart warming tale of the friendship of Snow Flower and Lily (the narrator), their upbringing, intimate moments, misunderstandings and their life in general.

The book holds you with its writing, its innocence and the vast knowledge of China and its traditions.

The first half was really good, the second half was a little pale in comparison to the first but that maybe because the book is long. Nevertheless, it was a really good book. Good enough that I want to recommend it to everyone and good enough that I may re-read it after some years.

Probablemente sea una de las historias de amor más bonitas que he leído. Porque aunque el libro trata de muchas cosas, el tema principal es el amor entre Flor de Nieve y Lirio Blanco. Esta última va a narrarnos las venturas y desventuras de su vida desde su más tierna infancia hasta su vejez, pasando por todos los momentos clave de su vida.

A través de las palabras de Lirio Blanco, vamos a ir conociendo las tradiciones de la época, el pobre papel de la mujer en esa sociedad tan patriarcal y como jugaba con las pocas cartas que le caían en la mano. La valía de la mujer se media en función a su capacidad de tener hijos. Y por supuesto, estos hijos debían ser varones. Las mujeres que solo tenían hembras, eran desechadas rápidamente y tratadas como exclavas. La mujer debía obedecer a su padre, una vez casada a su marido y cuando viuda a su hijo. Por eso me llamó especialmente la atención el dicho que no paraban de repetir "Obedece, obedece, obedece, y luego haz lo que quieras". Dentro de sus posibilidades, las mujeres luchaban contra la situación. Sobre todo el personaje de Flor de Nieve demuestra la lucha de la mujer que no se conforma. ¡Vaya pedazo de personaje!

Una de las cosas que más me han gustado es el claro reflejo de como esas tradiciones tan arcaicas pasaban de generación en generación. Nuestra protagonista no entendía y recriminaba su trato por la sociedad y por su propia familia, por el simple hecho de ser mujer. Sin embargo, conforme iba creciendo, adoptaba ella misma esos roles y esas barbaridades como normales y las ejercía con sus hijos y con ella misma. Si es el único modelo que ves desde pequeña, es el único que sabes seguir.

Uno de los temas más atractivos de la novela es el nu shu, el lenguaje secreto que las mujeres crearon muchos siglos atrás para comunicarse entre ellas. Para poder escapar del silencio y el aislamiento al que las sometían los hombres. Llevaba años queriendo leer sobre el tema y este libro me ha despertado aún más la curiosidad. Neceisto leer más cositas sobre el nu shu.

El vendado de los pies es otro tema que llevaba mucho tiempo queriendo leer en profundidad, y he aprendido bastante. De hecho, es mucho más reciente de lo que creemos, ya que aunque se prohibió oficialmente a finales del sigo XIX, en entornos rurales se siguió practicando hasta bien avanzado el siglo XX. Probablemente una de las prácticas más brutales que se han hecho contra la mujer con el único objetivo del disfrute masculino.

Y como ya he dicho, el tema de fondo siempre es la relación entre Flor de Nieve y Lirio Blanco. Ambas se conocen de niñas, cuando sus dos familias las unen como almas gemelas (o laotang), ya que comparten similitudes en su vida. Van a ir creciendo juntas, mientras va aumentado el amor que sienten la una por la otra. Incluso una vez casadas y con hijos, son la una para la otra. Una historia de amor preciosa. Un amor que no solo goza de lo físico, sino de lo espiritual. Varias escenas de las que compartían las dos se van a quedar en mi memoria para siempre.

Todo lo bueno que me llegaba de esta novela era totalmente cierto. ¡Es una joya! Ahora solo me queda seguir leyendo a esta autora, que desde ya entra en ese selecto grupo de autores a los que adorar <3.

"A woman will never become valuable if she doesn't leave her village," Mama cried out. "Goodbye, Mama," I chanted back to her. "Thank you for raising a worthless daughter." "Goodbye daughter," Baba said softly.<--- Trust me, I totally LOLed :P

Rating: 3.5

SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN started pretty strong for me. Our protagonist is now a old lady. Reminiscing, tired and full of regret. It made me instantly weary. You see, anyone who is that guilty and ashamed can only mean one thing. You royally fucked up. And I, for one, wasn't sure if I was ready to read a book that was definitely going to make me hate the woman. But temped I was, as well as curious so I went for it. Good thing I did. I learned a thing or two about the culture, although you do get the feeling - definitely during the more intimate moments - that you're intruding.

As Lily takes us back to her younger years, we see an obedient and keen to please daughter who wants more than anything for her mother to love her. But it seems that her mother is just as determined to not do so. Don't feel too sorry for her, though. Let's just say that the girl knows how to hold a grudge. Furthermore, she will go through the excruciating process of footbinding where her feet will be shaped a certain way that is deemed beautiful. This is important since it is the gateway into marrying into a good home. On the flip-side it includes broken bones and results in difficulty in walking for the rest of your life. Some do not even live through it.

What is to really change the course of her life is the moment she is promised to Snow Flower. Another child her age. They are to be 'sames' an emotional bond that lasts forever. This bond, in particular, will run deeper than any other. This match also introduces the language 'nu shu'. A secret language known only among women - which I found absolutely fascinating. The two for many years will use it to write to one another and leave messages on a particular fan that they have held dear since childhood.

I have to say, the middle of the book I struggled with. I even contemplated leaving the book for a while and coming back to it another time. Yet I resisted and I'm glad. You know, many that these two girls hold dear pass away. Yet I never really mourned or felt their loss, and I'm not sure what to make of that. Our protagonist, Lily, is another to brood over. She will go through so much. But on the flip-side, it's what she goes through that will shape her into the wise women that is introduced to us in the first few pages. I guess the fact that she accepts her faults is a start, but it doesn't help lessen my frustration towards her throughout the book. She does some shitty things. Thing is? As her status grows, so does her ignorance, insensitivity and pride. And towards the end - no mater how much she regretted - I just didn't care for her by then. I didn't like her, but I did come to the conclusion that a part of me could respect her for all that she had endured and done in order to repent.

They lived in a time where everything is so male-dominated. Where their culture expects women to be quiet, polite and obedient to their men. Where bearing a son is of utmost importance and a daughter a curse. I mean, everything in centred around making the husband feel like a king, if not the husband then the father, if not the father then the son. The thing is that these girls are brought up with these values, so most don't even question them which is probably the sad part. But this is something that is a part of many cultures out there, that is still out there. It's not alien to me, in fact, it's something that my mother grew up with and something that I'm sure her mother grew up with. This circle, to be honest, has only broken with me. So yes, I'm aware of the implications of this way of thinking, and the way it affects you growing up with it. But interestingly enough - if you pay attention, some women do fight back in their own way in the novel. With their wit :)

I wasn't as emotionally invested as I would have liked to have been, and the book did go on the verge of boring halfway through, but overall I quite enjoyed it. What made it worthwhile overall was not only learning about their customs but the bitter-sweet friendship that Lilly and Snow Flower shared.

My grandmother used to say that my big feet meant I had a “good foundation.” I’d stare longingly at her size-six feet when she said this and curse my genetic inheritance from elsewhere in the family tree. Then I had an ex-boyfriend make the infuriating statement that rich women have small feet.

My teenage-self took a lot of comfort in the fact that foot size is pre-ordained and unchangeable. Clown-sized feet can strike the smart, the rich, the beautiful. And there isn’t a damned thing they or I could do about it.

Then I read this book and learn it is possible to change your foot size. It’s called foot binding.

And you know what? I’ll pass. I enjoy being able to wiggle my toes and jump around. So, thank you, Lisa See! For once in my life, I am content with my big feet. And I owe it all to your graphic descriptions of this ancient Chinese method. Blood, putrefaction, pain, breaking bones, risk of death! I cannot believe those women were subjected to such brutal mutilation for the sake of beauty. Then they were still expected to clean the house perched on those tiny, unstable feet.

The foot binding portion of the book was the highlight for me. The inspiration for the book was nu shu, a written language developed by Chinese women and kept secret from men for hundreds of years. I didn’t find that part of the story nearly as engaging.

Beyond the foot biding event and nu shu device, this was really a story about a fulsome female friendship. Putting aside any problems with the plot, their emotions toward each other were complex and meaningful. There was hope and joy, but mostly there was pain.

During an event with Lisa last night, she spoke of how depressing writing can be. She doesn’t always wake up raring to write. Instead she may dread knowing she has to go to a dark, internal place to write about a character’s death or betrayal. Even worse, she may have to stay in that mindset for days or weeks until that section is completely written. I spend so much time glamorizing a writer’s lifestyle that I had not fully considered how emotionally draining it could be. I suspected the career engenders self-doubt. “Will people like what I’ve written?” Yet, I had never thought about the struggle Lisa described to create and inhabit the internal emotional environment necessary to produce the actual words.

I commend Lisa for giving us a realistic look at the treatment of and expectations for women in that day and age. Women were isolated and undervalued. Their worth was determined solely by whether they could produce sons. But honestly, my main complaint about the book is how depressing it was. I kept waiting for some great act of heroism. Yet the women stuck to their traditional roles. The main character not only repeated the indoctrination, she believed it! “My role in life is to obey, obey, obey.” Sure, they rebelled in small ways, but always within the confines of their societal roles. I kept routing for one character to leave an abusive husband or, at very least, stand up to her oppressive mother-in-law.

Normally I am conflicted when authors deviate from historical facts in order to cater to a modern readership. This time, I think Lisa stayed so true to the setting that she turned me off. (And her heavy-handed foreshadowing didn’t help.) Life was hard for women back then. I get it. But does that make for an enjoyable read? Not really. And I think that was my problem.

I had the wrong expectations as I entered this book. It wasn't a sprawling historical epic, filled with exciting action, heart-fluttering romance, and distant voyages like Shogun. It was a largely quiet book about quiet life.

Lisa herself admitted she writes sad books. And when she started this book, no one thought it would be successful. China? Women? Gloom? No one will read that! Well, she proved them wrong. Lots of people read it. Heck, I read it.

And it’s worth reading. It made me appreciate the freedom women enjoy today, as well as the potential depth of female friendship. Not to mention, I’m looking down at my feet right now with new appreciation.

I tried to read it. It was so non-compelling, who were these little mice of women, what were they up to, why should I care? MAKE ME CARE. The plot didn't, the characters didn't and so I couldn't get past about page 50. My mind kept drifting off and by the time I was conscious of reading again I wouldn't know what had happened so I had to reread it again and again up unto the fourth rereading of the same pages. (Exactly the same experience I had with Rushdie's Satanic Verses). So I gave up.

I thought it was probably me and not the book, so I downloaded the film. Lord, was it bad or what? Exactly the same experience, it wasn't any more interesting. It's an experience I'm not going to have with the Satanic Verses though. I doubt there's a director (still) alive brave enough to make a film of that book.