Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by keyuri
Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
What happens when a woman decides she’s more than a womb, a wife or a pair of bound feet?
Set in 15th-century China, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women follows Tan Yunxian — an elite women who defies expectation by becoming a doctor in a world where women were expected to stay silent, make sons and bind their feet small enough (ouch!) to be desirable. Men had concubines; women had very few choices.
What stood out to me most was the way Lisa See centers women’s health — not just through herbal remedies and midwifery, but by showing how deeply illness is tied to isolation, control, and lack of agency. The emotional core of the story is Yunxian’s friendship with Meiling — a reminder that, in a system built to separate women, solidarity is its own kind of resistance.
It’s a slow, detail-rich novel, and while it didn’t completely land for me emotionally, it was still quietly empowering — a thoughtful look at how women have always found ways to care, connect, and carve out space for themselves, even in the smallest of courtyards.
Set in 15th-century China, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women follows Tan Yunxian — an elite women who defies expectation by becoming a doctor in a world where women were expected to stay silent, make sons and bind their feet small enough (ouch!) to be desirable. Men had concubines; women had very few choices.
What stood out to me most was the way Lisa See centers women’s health — not just through herbal remedies and midwifery, but by showing how deeply illness is tied to isolation, control, and lack of agency. The emotional core of the story is Yunxian’s friendship with Meiling — a reminder that, in a system built to separate women, solidarity is its own kind of resistance.
It’s a slow, detail-rich novel, and while it didn’t completely land for me emotionally, it was still quietly empowering — a thoughtful look at how women have always found ways to care, connect, and carve out space for themselves, even in the smallest of courtyards.