Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Stories of strong women are compelling to me.  Stories of life-long friendship are also appealing.  Lisa See's Snow Flower and the Secret Fan has both.  The story takes place in 19th century China.  A time when a woman's job is to get married, take care of her husband and his family and bear sons.  It's also a time when a woman is judged almost solely on the size of her feet.  The horribly cruel practice of foot binding figures prominently in this story.

Lily and Snow Flower become "laotong" or "old sames".  This is a match, similar to a marriage, but it's between women.  It's an emotional relationship designed to provide women a friendship that will last through the different phases of their lives.  This match began at age seven and carried them through death.  Although often separated by distance the two communicate through "nu shu", a secret language created by women.  Through this language women write to each other on fans, handkerchiefs and other pieces of cloth covertly sharing significant parts of their lives.

Lisa See has crafted a beautiful story of women and their lives.  For me, this story was reminiscent of The Red Tent because of its careful attention to the lives and traditions of womanhood.  At times I felt fairly voyeuristic as I observed the women at their most intimate moments.  My heart broke for Lily and Snow Flower at just how little joy was a part of their lives.  Births and marriages were quite sorrowful events if just the right combination of circumstances did not occur.  See's descriptive language took my to the far away and foreign land of rural China.