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A review by emilyusuallyreading
The Painter From Shanghai by Jennifer Cody Epstein
2.0
What I Liked
I love reading about the talent of women in history, and Pan Yuliang is one of those women I delighted to learn about - I had never heard of her before!
Pan Yuliang was sold by her uncle into prostitution when she was 14 years old. Through her intelligence and ability and the help of her eventual husband, she managed to escape the brothel life that she hated and became an incredibly famous, successful, and controversial painter.
What I Didn't Like
I hugely enjoyed Memoirs of a Geisha when I read it a few years ago... and this feels like Memoirs of a Geisha 2.0 Hopefully, Maybe, Right? But instead it fell flat quickly. The majority of the book is focused on Pan Yuliang's early years, being forced into prostitution, having her innocence torn from her, and yet the part of her life that was glorying is so often over-shadowed by the chapters and chapters about her years as a prostitute.
Although it is clear that Epstein has spent time in China and knows about the culture, at times the sexual phrases, meant to make the book a little more PG-13, came across as weird and silly. "Jade sword," "ruby cave," etc. Yikes.
Pan Yuliang should either be unlearned or well-learned, but instead she was both in this novel, whenever was most convenient.
I had a problem with how Yuliang's husband was portrayed. At the beginning of the novel, he was an incredible feminist - so feminist, in fact, that it seemed entirely unrealistic to an early-20th century Chinese world. "Women and men are partners and equals. Women should go to school. Women should have their feet unbound. Consent is 100% necessary, etc." It's not that I disagreed with him; it just seemed odd to me that every other human being in the novel had traditional views except for him. Again, this was one of those issues that only existed when it was convenient for the author. When Yuliang needed a defender to help her escape prostitution, her husband was a major feminist. When she wanted to become a painter against all odds, he was suddenly extremely traditional and seemingly non-feminist at all.
I love reading about the talent of women in history, and Pan Yuliang is one of those women I delighted to learn about - I had never heard of her before!
Pan Yuliang was sold by her uncle into prostitution when she was 14 years old. Through her intelligence and ability and the help of her eventual husband, she managed to escape the brothel life that she hated and became an incredibly famous, successful, and controversial painter.
What I Didn't Like
I hugely enjoyed Memoirs of a Geisha when I read it a few years ago... and this feels like Memoirs of a Geisha 2.0 Hopefully, Maybe, Right? But instead it fell flat quickly. The majority of the book is focused on Pan Yuliang's early years, being forced into prostitution, having her innocence torn from her, and yet the part of her life that was glorying is so often over-shadowed by the chapters and chapters about her years as a prostitute.
Although it is clear that Epstein has spent time in China and knows about the culture, at times the sexual phrases, meant to make the book a little more PG-13, came across as weird and silly. "Jade sword," "ruby cave," etc. Yikes.
Spoiler
Perhaps Pan Yuliang really was bisexual, but I haven't read anything to suggest otherwise, and placing this in the novel seemed like further sexual exploitation of a difficult past.Pan Yuliang should either be unlearned or well-learned, but instead she was both in this novel, whenever was most convenient.
Spoiler
Future husband falls in love with her because she can quote any poem ever by memory, but she also is so naive and can't read and has never been to a school ever.I had a problem with how Yuliang's husband was portrayed. At the beginning of the novel, he was an incredible feminist - so feminist, in fact, that it seemed entirely unrealistic to an early-20th century Chinese world. "Women and men are partners and equals. Women should go to school. Women should have their feet unbound. Consent is 100% necessary, etc." It's not that I disagreed with him; it just seemed odd to me that every other human being in the novel had traditional views except for him. Again, this was one of those issues that only existed when it was convenient for the author. When Yuliang needed a defender to help her escape prostitution, her husband was a major feminist. When she wanted to become a painter against all odds, he was suddenly extremely traditional and seemingly non-feminist at all.