Decluttering.

Enjoyed reading this one but time to set it free.

Saw this on a wishlist. Hope you like it!

a lovely surprise, thank you! I read Flower Net by Lisa See earlier in the year as part of a bookring and I was keen to read more.

wow, what a beautiful book. When I started it I thought hmm, historical fiction, maybe this won't be my sort of thing after all (I'd added it to my wishlist after reading another of her books set in contemporary China) but it was an amazing read, really special. All about women's lives in 19th century China and the special relationship between two 'old sames'. Highly recommended.

sent to the winner of the international sweepstake - enjoy!

Thank you! I´ve never heard of this book (there are sooo many books out there...), but this sounds like something I´m going to like. Thanks!

Sept 24. OMG, what a book. I´m just through the chapter of footbinding: this is unbelievable. Of course I knew roughly how it worked and how they did it, but all these details are really giving me goose bumps. And I had NEVER thought of those bound feet as a sort of sexual fetish for the men, resembling female genitalia (especially as they stay small and tight after numerous pregnancies and deliveries and with age), this is really disgusting. And I had no idea, that even in families who had trouble feeding themselves during the winters, women sat in closed rooms unable to walk out on their 7cm or even smaller feet. Wow, wow, wow.
Sept 25. I think it´s also very interesting that being a butcher is such a social disgrace when everyone eats meat...
I´ve never heard of the Taiping rebels before, but learned (wiki you know...) that 20.000.000 people died in this conflict... an interesting detail in my opinion is how of course the bound-feet women were handicapped on their flight, as they had not walked properly in years and were simply not able to. This reminds me of an article I read on 9/11 that said that a lot of women died in the towers because they were handicapped on their escape by their high heels in comparison to the men who wore proper shoes... not that I was a high heel fetishist until I read that, but that was the day I decided to bury my bad conscience about my lacking enthusiasm for high heels.

Sept 26th: Yes, great book.

sent on for the September Sweeps

Thank you for this sweepstake win! I look forward to reading this, looks promising!

It took me too long to get to this book considering that it is an amazing story! The historical setting and the characters are very interesting; despite thinking first that I cannot relate to anyone in this story it turned out to be emotionally involving and touching. It describes the low position the women had in this era in China and their own 'sub-culture', if it can be called that. There were truly two different worlds for men and women. I was amazed to learn about the women's secret language! And the descriptions of footbinding process for young girls is heartbreaking, definitely comparable to FGM. However the overarching theme is about friendship and emotional commitment. Highly enjoyable and recommended reading.

Sending as part of UK wishlist game, enjoy!

Received in the post today from Blue_berry as part of the UK Wishlist Tag Game. Thanks very much. I will look forward to reading it and no problem as regards the delay in sending it to me. I won't run out of books to read any time in the near future! I shall be fitting it into Plum-Crazy's "What to Read
This Month" themes asap-see under Book Talk in the Forum.

REVIEW:- I really enjoyed this book which gave an amazing insight into the lives of 19th century Chinese women. I was horrified by the accounts of foot-binding and the dreadful pain, deformity, and often deaths caused by it. I can't imagine ever putting my own child through such torment, especially after having endured it myself as was the case with the women in the story. However, I suppose, to them the alternative was even bleaker.
I was very surprised by the fact that a woman who married was expected to take with her to her new husband's family, enough clothes to wear for the rest of her life. These all to be made by her own hand of course.
The story of Lily and Snow Flower and their friendship was very moving and I would definitely look for other books by this author.
When reading this book do make sure to read the author's notes at the end which are fascinating regarding her research.

I am reserving the book for Snoopy56. (The covers of the book are becoming quite tattered but the body of the book is still well readable.)

This book was given to my friend Snoopy56 when we met for tea and chat this morning. I hope she enjoys it as much as I did.

To the finder:-
Welcome to bookcrossing -you have found a travelling book. Please make a journal entry now to say where you found the book in case it has been moved. Then, when you have read it, please come back and make a further entry saying whether or not you enjoyed the book and why. It is now yours to do as you like with it, pass it to a friend or just leave it somewhere different for someone else to find and help it with its' journey. Of course if you can't bear to part with it at the moment then keep it, but please let me know that you have found it. If you join bookcrossing, which is free and spam-free, you can follow the book on its' travels as you will get an email each time it changes hands, but if you prefer to remain anonymous, that's fine too. Please also say what you intend to do with the book next. Thanks for coming onto the site to let me know you have found the book.

I already have books travelling in many countries around the world-a list can be found on my bookcrossing profile.

When re-releasing this book please be aware that airports are not a good place to leave books unless they have a specific book exchange shelf or area, due to security problems, so they may well just be disposed of. Also charity shops may well discard books that have been labelled in any way and they mostly chose only the books in the very best condition
to place on their shelves and discard the rest-so another bad release option.

This book certainly comes highly recommended. I look forward to reading it.

I learnt so much about Chinese culture while reading this book. Although I was aware that foot-binding went on I was very vague about the actual process which turns out to be more horrific than I realised. I also knew nothing about the secret language (there is more about this in the notes at the end of the book). I have read several books set in China at different periods in the country’s history, both fiction and non-fiction and they have all been interesting reads.
I am saving this book for a friend who I think will enjoy it.