"An achingly beautiful, understated and absorbing story of love..."

Postal release to chucklesthescot in Scotland.

Thank you so much Oldbroad for your wonderful generous gifts! You are a true bookcrossing gem, thank you! Hugs from Scotland! xx

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Heading off in the Asian VBB. Enjoy!

Received today from chuckles, as part of the Asian VBB. I've read The Joyluck Club by Amy Tan among Chinese authors...this one seems very interesting...my second Chinese novel. :) Thank you!

This is one of the most beautiful stories I've ever read...it's been a few months since and I remember wanting to review it then, the words escape me now. It's an exquisite read, painful and moving. The book talks about the experiences of Lily, a girl from a poor family in nineteenth century China. We learn what it means to grow up as a woman in China - a female member of a patriarchal family, a daughter, a friend, a wife, a mother, and also just a woman without any other role attached, if that is possible at all. We journey through Lily's childhood, and the all-important foot-binding ceremony for a girl's marriage which begins from a very tender age...this is also very much the story of Lily's friendship with another girl, Snow Flower, who hails from a much richer family. The two are paired up as 'laotongs' or 'old sames' - a Chinese tradition, and the book moves through different stages of their lives, their relationship evolving over time...and how the equations of power shift and change hands. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is an intense tale, stirring a range of emotions in the reader. I do think it'll be enjoyed more by women simply because they will be able to relate to it in a way men can't. I loved this one. Thank you so much Chuckles for choosing this book for me!

This was lent out to a friend and fellow bookcrosser deeptijk, after my strong recommendation. She told me she really liked it too, and once I get it back from her I hope to lend it out to many other friends!

This book is back with me after having been read by another friend, (and she loved it too), and now ready to continue its travels in the BC world...:)

In the post to soozreader, who won this in an RABCK hosted be me a while ago. It's one of my favourite reads as you can see from the review, and hope you find it enjoyable too!

Thank you very much for this book and the other goodies you sent me! Such a lovely surpise, I really needed the cheering up:)

edit 3rd Nov. 2013: I received another copy of this book so I will be passing this one onwards:)

The book is on its way to the winner of October sweepstake:) Congratulations and enjoy!

Thank you so much - this sounds like a great book - I'm really looking forward to reading it. Thanks for the great card too. I am so thrilled to have won :) looking forward to hosting the next sweepstake too!

I've been given another copy of this book so I'm sending this one onwards as part of the Easter 2015 exchange with some other goodies. :)

Hope you like your little package. Happy Easter x

Thank you and happy Easter! :) This books sounds like something I will love. The mini eggs won't last long, love the notebook and the animal bookmark. Thank you for my package :D

I loved this book. Snow Flower and the secret fam tells the story of two Chinese girls who form a bond of friendship and love.

Being a woman in China in this time period seems pretty horrific. You are made to feel worthless from birth. The only thing you can do to redeem yourself, is to have a son.

To achieve this, you need to marry and to marry well, you need to have lotus shaped feet. I knew about foot binding but I never really gave it much thought before. Reading Lily's descriptions of how she was made to walk across the room until her toes broke, made me have sympathy pains in my feet. After googling what bound feet looked like, I honestly can’t understand how that was considered attractive. And this happened to girls as young as 5! I’m so glad this is illegal now!

Lily and Snow Flower do have a lovely friendship for most of their lives, even though their statuses switch. I enjoyed reading about the twists and turns their lives took.
The ending was sad.

This was a strong historical fiction novel and I would highly recommend it.