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utahmomreads's review against another edition
5.0
Review originally posted on my blog : http://utahmomslife.blogspot.com/2011/07/shanghai-girls-book-review.html
Even though we didn't discuss the assigned book at our book club meeting last night, we did, of course, talk about books. One friend and I shared our mutual love and affection for the book I just finished last week -- Shanghai Girls by Lisa See.
Sisters Pearl and May are "beautiful girls" in 1930's Shanghai, meaning they pose regularly for the popular advertisements depicting beautiful girls using a variety of products. They are from the upper classes and have enjoyed a fun and spoiled life in the "Paris of Asia". But their lives are drastically changed by their father's financial demise and the invasion of China by the Japanese. Eventually, Pearl and May will immigrate to the United States, carefully guarding their secrets.
Shanghai is a fascinating setting. I was enthralled. Pearl and May are devoted and loving sisters, in spite of being very different personalities. Together and separately, they do what they must to survive in frightening and dangerous times. While the threats are different once they arrive in the US, they still live in constant fear. So much of their circumstances is beyond their control, but the sisters' contrasting reactions and beliefs are very interesting.
The plot moves along frantically through the first half of the book. I could hardly put it down. Later, the plot does slow and time begins to move in large segments. I felt the book lost some of it's early momentum at this point, but it is still compelling.
The ending would have upset me if I didn't already know that there is a sequel, Dreams of Joy. I've already started reading it.
Bringing up powerful topics of war, survival, immigration, motherhood, family devotion, and sacrifice, Shanghai Girls is a truly rich novel.
Even though we didn't discuss the assigned book at our book club meeting last night, we did, of course, talk about books. One friend and I shared our mutual love and affection for the book I just finished last week -- Shanghai Girls by Lisa See.
Sisters Pearl and May are "beautiful girls" in 1930's Shanghai, meaning they pose regularly for the popular advertisements depicting beautiful girls using a variety of products. They are from the upper classes and have enjoyed a fun and spoiled life in the "Paris of Asia". But their lives are drastically changed by their father's financial demise and the invasion of China by the Japanese. Eventually, Pearl and May will immigrate to the United States, carefully guarding their secrets.
Shanghai is a fascinating setting. I was enthralled. Pearl and May are devoted and loving sisters, in spite of being very different personalities. Together and separately, they do what they must to survive in frightening and dangerous times. While the threats are different once they arrive in the US, they still live in constant fear. So much of their circumstances is beyond their control, but the sisters' contrasting reactions and beliefs are very interesting.
The plot moves along frantically through the first half of the book. I could hardly put it down. Later, the plot does slow and time begins to move in large segments. I felt the book lost some of it's early momentum at this point, but it is still compelling.
The ending would have upset me if I didn't already know that there is a sequel, Dreams of Joy. I've already started reading it.
Bringing up powerful topics of war, survival, immigration, motherhood, family devotion, and sacrifice, Shanghai Girls is a truly rich novel.
kenortz's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
lindsayaunderwood's review against another edition
3.0
I loved a lot about this book, but the part I enjoyed the most was the historical fiction aspect. I learned so much about Chinese culture. Also giving this book to my sister, because it has a great underlying theme about the bond of sisterhood.
michellechien930's review against another edition
3.0
I read A Little Life a while back and many people dubbed it "torture porn" (although I actually really liked it), and I'd like to say that Shanghai Girls is quite similar to what I actually think torture porn is like. It's quite a depressing saga of two sisters who are in the turbulent era of war, forced to marry strange men and move to America despite a lot of trouble (and I mean A LOT: unwanted pregnancy, fake identity, misled love, Hollywood, racial slurs, paper families, mom but but not your mom, dad but not your dad, pestilence, suicide, Chinatown, gang rape). Basically, all these terrible things keep happening relentlessly, and it's all very sad and depressing. In the end, no one has a happy ending. I love reading books that are infused with Asian culture however, and this one clearly depicted the lives of immigrants and war victims. Just don't go in expecting a lighthearted plot line.
khaliah's review against another edition
1.0
If you want to read a book about Chinese women who come to America and try Inheritance by Lan Samantha Chang. It's better written and more compelling. I tried to finish this book but I got so close to the end and then I couldn't take anymore. So many sections of this book should have made me, as a reader far more invested in the plight of these women, and it just fell flat.
betseyboo's review against another edition
3.0
This wasn't a bad book to read. I think what the problem is I'm in a book rut. I can't seem to find a book that really grabs me. This story seemed too familiar. What you recommend for a great book? I need help.
applegnreads's review against another edition
3.0
It's not that this wasn't well written, it's that it's not particularly enjoyable to read. Some of that is that we're dealing with bad things happening but mostly it's that the two main characters are not likeable and what happens to them is predictable. We want to feel bad for them but they're such spoiled brats you want to shake them. So, hard to say whether it was worth it...
goodem9199's review against another edition
3.0
Started very strong, but about 3/4 of the way in, I just really wanted it to be over...and the ending sucked.
saritaroth's review against another edition
5.0
Favorite Quote Of The Book - "We’re told that men are strong and brave, but I think women know how to endure, accept defeat, and bear physical and mental agony much better than men . . . As men, they have to put a brave face on tragedy and obstacles, but they are as easily bruised as flower petals."
It was really difficult to choose a favorite quote from this book; the book had so much wonderful language and imagery within its pages that I was hard-pressed to find one more worthy than another. Lately, I haven't been giving very many books 5 stars, but I thought this book really deserved it. It was so full of vivid description and heartbreaking experiences that tears were constantly threatening to flow down my cheeks with almost every word. If you do read this book, I recommend a box (or two) of tissues. The title of this blog comes from something that Pearl says, "Like Anna May, May glows like a ghost goddess."
The book centers around Pearl and May, two sisters from Shanghai, China, who are living with their parents and making a living as what are called "beautiful girls" or models. Pearl is the eldest at twenty-one years old and May is eighteen. The book takes place after the Revolution, so women are not required to bind their feet or to succumb to arranged marriages. Their father, however, has a gambling problem and ends up losing a game and, in so doing, is forced to give his daughters away to a man named Old Man Louie as wives for his sons, Sam and Vern. When Pearl finds out what she has to endure, she narrates, "I thought I was modern. I thought I had choice. I thought I was nothing like my mother. But my father’s gambling has swept all that away. I’m to be sold—traded like so many girls before me—to help my family. I feel so trapped and so helpless that I can hardly breathe."
After the weddings, Old Man Louie and his sons go to California and the sisters are told to meet them there. Before Pearl and May even get out of China, however, Pearl and their mother are raped by Japanese soldiers while May is hiding. The mother does not survive and it is up to Pearl and May to find their way out of China to America. They get to America, but they are kept in detention for four months and interrogated by agents before they are released. Pearl finds out that May is pregnant and she gives birth while they are still being detained; they name the child Joy and pass her off as Pearl's, because Pearl slept with her husband before they left for America but May did not, and it would be dangerous for them to reveal this secret. Once they get to America and are reunited with their husbands, things just go from bad to worse. They are forced to work like slaves in the father-in-law's shops in China Town and are constantly belittled for the fact that they are not able to bless their husbands with sons to carry on the Louie name. Down the line, Pearl finds out that her husband, Sam, was not actually born in America, as she originally thought, but is what they call a "paper son", meaning Old Man Louie (who was not really his father) bought the papers of an American citizen and passed them off as Sam's. This means that Pearl is not an American citizen by marriage and is in America illegally. May, on the other hand, is married to Vern, Old Man Louie's son and an American citizen, so she has nothing to worry about from INS.
Pearl was originally told that she could not have children after she was assaulted back in China; May does not consummate her marriage for a long time, because her husband, Vern, is what they call a "boy-husband", meaning he has the mental capacity of a child. Pearl does end up giving birth to a son, but the son is stillborn. There are even more tragedies that befall the two sisters, but I don't want to give it all away. Can we say spoiler alert?
I will reiterate that I highly recommend this book; contrary to some other books I've been reading lately that I have been struggling to get through and that, in the end, I have given up on, this book grabbed me from the beginning and refused to let go until the final, heart-wrenching and yet somewhat uplifting scene.
It was really difficult to choose a favorite quote from this book; the book had so much wonderful language and imagery within its pages that I was hard-pressed to find one more worthy than another. Lately, I haven't been giving very many books 5 stars, but I thought this book really deserved it. It was so full of vivid description and heartbreaking experiences that tears were constantly threatening to flow down my cheeks with almost every word. If you do read this book, I recommend a box (or two) of tissues. The title of this blog comes from something that Pearl says, "Like Anna May, May glows like a ghost goddess."
The book centers around Pearl and May, two sisters from Shanghai, China, who are living with their parents and making a living as what are called "beautiful girls" or models. Pearl is the eldest at twenty-one years old and May is eighteen. The book takes place after the Revolution, so women are not required to bind their feet or to succumb to arranged marriages. Their father, however, has a gambling problem and ends up losing a game and, in so doing, is forced to give his daughters away to a man named Old Man Louie as wives for his sons, Sam and Vern. When Pearl finds out what she has to endure, she narrates, "I thought I was modern. I thought I had choice. I thought I was nothing like my mother. But my father’s gambling has swept all that away. I’m to be sold—traded like so many girls before me—to help my family. I feel so trapped and so helpless that I can hardly breathe."
After the weddings, Old Man Louie and his sons go to California and the sisters are told to meet them there. Before Pearl and May even get out of China, however, Pearl and their mother are raped by Japanese soldiers while May is hiding. The mother does not survive and it is up to Pearl and May to find their way out of China to America. They get to America, but they are kept in detention for four months and interrogated by agents before they are released. Pearl finds out that May is pregnant and she gives birth while they are still being detained; they name the child Joy and pass her off as Pearl's, because Pearl slept with her husband before they left for America but May did not, and it would be dangerous for them to reveal this secret. Once they get to America and are reunited with their husbands, things just go from bad to worse. They are forced to work like slaves in the father-in-law's shops in China Town and are constantly belittled for the fact that they are not able to bless their husbands with sons to carry on the Louie name. Down the line, Pearl finds out that her husband, Sam, was not actually born in America, as she originally thought, but is what they call a "paper son", meaning Old Man Louie (who was not really his father) bought the papers of an American citizen and passed them off as Sam's. This means that Pearl is not an American citizen by marriage and is in America illegally. May, on the other hand, is married to Vern, Old Man Louie's son and an American citizen, so she has nothing to worry about from INS.
Pearl was originally told that she could not have children after she was assaulted back in China; May does not consummate her marriage for a long time, because her husband, Vern, is what they call a "boy-husband", meaning he has the mental capacity of a child. Pearl does end up giving birth to a son, but the son is stillborn. There are even more tragedies that befall the two sisters, but I don't want to give it all away. Can we say spoiler alert?
I will reiterate that I highly recommend this book; contrary to some other books I've been reading lately that I have been struggling to get through and that, in the end, I have given up on, this book grabbed me from the beginning and refused to let go until the final, heart-wrenching and yet somewhat uplifting scene.